



51'?'- 



i§ 



mi. 



■mi 



LIBRA'^Y OF CONGRESS. 






UNITED STATE;', . .. . ,..iCA. 



/ 



PRACTICAL 



FARMER'S Guide 



WRITTEN BY 



Sv 



&■ y 



E. P. GODLEY 



OF BURKE COUNTY. GA. 







■^f' \;ki><0^ 



REVISED BY 

HON. WALTER A. CLARK, 

OF RICHMOND COUNTY. 



AUGUSTA, GA. 

JAS. L. GOW, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER. 

1871. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1871, by 

E. P. GODLEY, 

in the Office of tlie Librarian of Congress, at Wasliington. 






PREFACE 



The Author's design, in the preparation of the following pages for the 
press, has been to furnish in a convenient form a plain and practical Manual 
for the cultivation of all the leading staples of the South, with a variety of 
information upon other and kindred subjects, deduced from his own lengthy 
experience aiid an attentive observation of the pi'actice of successful planters 
in nearly all of the Southern States. 

The loss of so large a number of practical farmers by the casualties of the 
late war, and the increasing immigration of numbers from other sections 
who are entirely unacquainted with our system and niodes of culture, seems 
to him to have created a special necessity for such a w(jrk, at this time. 

There are other publications of a somewhat similar character of eminent 
merit, but none, he thinks, sufKciently comprehensive to meet the demands 
of the times. Influenced by these considerations, and at the solicitations of 
friends, he has prepared this work, and now presents it to the public, in the 
hope that it may be of some benefit, at least, to the young and inex- 
perienced — perhaps to some of maturer years ; that it may contribute, in 
some slight degree, to rebuild "the waste places" of his native South, and, 
by adding to her material prosperity, render some humble assistance in 
enabling her to recover her normal position in the land — believing also, as 
he does, that "the Angel of Peace is the Sister of Agriculture, and the Flag 
of Empire will follow the track of the plow." 



CONTENTS 



PAGE. 

Cultivation ol Corn and Selection of Seed 9 

A successful way to make Corn on any kind of Land 14 

Cultivation of Short Staple Cotton 14 

Diagram of the Dibble, and Explanation of its use 20 

Cultivation of Sea Island Cotton — Long Staple 21 

Cultivation of Low Land Golden Rice 22 

Cultivation of Upland Rice 25 

Cultivation of Sugar Cane 26 

Wheat and its Culture. By Judge Smith, of Jetferson County, Ga 28 

Cultivation of Oats 29 

Cultivation of Rye 29 

Cultivation of Barley 30 

Cultivation of Buckwheat 30 

Cultivation of Field Peas 30 

Cultivation of Ground Peas 32 

Cultivation of Chufas 32 

Sweet Potatoes 33 

The Best Method of Saving Sweet Potatoes. By George T. Cogel, of 

Richmond County, Ga 35 

Watermelons 37 



VI 

Muskinelons and Cantelopes 40 

Growing Watermelons. By Judge Smith, of Jefferson County, Ga 41 

A Good Fertilizer for Melons 41 

Kitchen Gardens 42 

Herbs 44 

Syrup of Sarsaparilla and Queen's Delight Compound. . 46 

Cultivation of Buncombe Large White Winter Cabbage 46 

Cuba Smoking Tobacco 49 

Chewing Tobacco 51 

Cultivation of Grapes. By W. T. Killingsvvorth, of Richmond Co., Ga. .52 
Peach Culture. " " " " . . 53 

Apple Culture. " " " " ..53 

Strawberries. " " " " ..54 

Peach Culture. By Joseph Saxon, of Richmond County, Ga 55 

Raising Hay in the South 56 

Hoe Culture and its Advantages 56 

To Destroy Bermuda (ilrass 58 

A Plan tf> Economise Time and Labor 59 

Diagram of Circle, and Explanation of the Mode of Cultivation 60 

Hints on Farm Buildings 61 

Cisterns 62 

On the Raising of Fowls 63 

Raising Horses in the South 64 

Hog Raising in the South 65 

Cattle Raising at the South 66 

Sheep 67 

Productions of Georgia 67 

Clearing Land 68 

Rotation of Crops 69 

The Different Species of Lands in the Southern States, and their 
Peculiarities 70 



Vll 

Bee Husbandry 73 

Large, Deep, Open Ponds 75 

On Fences 77 

Porcelain Clay Hill in Richmond County, Ga 80 

On the Production of Turpentine 80 

Ranging Timber 81 

Guano and Fertilizers generally 82 

Beslow's Compound 83 

Cooking. 83 

General Information 85 

Planting Cotton by Machine '87 

Conclusion 88 



THE CULTIVATION OF CORN, 

AND SELECTION OF SEED TO MAKE IT PROLIFIC. 

Break up your land deep with steel turning plows, and subsoil with 
plows that wiil cut as wide as the turn plow, to have it thoroughly broken. 
Arrange the subsoil plow so that the dirt will fall back into its proper place, 
where nature intended it to be. If the land has a clay foundation, break up 
twelve to fifteen inches deep, fill the earth with vegetable matter, haul in 
straw and leaves, and turn them under in November. Manure high and 
plant deep for corn and cover shallow. Mil! ponds reclaimed for cultiva- 
tion, bay lands, light, sandy hammocks on the sea coast, the islands adja- 
cent, cow-hide lands, and very broken lands — these six kinds should never 
be subsoiled. There is no rule without exceptions. Break up such lands 
deep with one-horse turning plow. The deeper land is broken, the deeper 
it should be fertilized, to enrich the yellow dirt and deepen the soil. Break 
up the land in December and November, to mix the soil and make it retain 
moisture. Broom sedge fields should be broken up early, to destroy cut 
wi')rms and bugs ; and harrowed, to tear the turfs to pieces and submit them 
to the winter frosts. Prepare the land early and plant early. Never break 
nor plant land when very wet. It will injure land, and more particularly 
when stiff' and disposed to run together after a hard rain. Breaking up land 
is hard work; the horses should be allowed to walk slowly, else the planter 
may break them down in the spring, to the serious inconvenience of the 
after crop. A good farmer should always be able to rest his horses a few 
days after breaking up the land. To let them have the run of a rye patch, 
then, will more than repay the trifling expense ; for then, should it be found 
necessary to push them in the after crop, they will be able to stand it. But 
a horse that has become poor in the spring, if he does not entirely fail in 
summer, will often be unable to do a half day's work when there is the 
greatest need. It is impossible either to fatten them in the heat of summer, 
or to keep an extra number, for horses are too expensive in a land where 
neither clover nor blue grass are raised. Very few Southern planters sow 
much small grain, or raise even enough to do them. For several years 
before the last war, and since, they have depended almost entirely on the 
Western and Northern markets for corn and meat. In 1866 and 1867, 
many of the largest planters in Burke county, Ga., planted very little corn, 
selecting their poorest land for this crop, as they could buy Western corn 
cheaper than they could raise it. This is poor economy. Every planter 
ought to raise his own corn and meat. And tv?o poor horses will consume 
as much corn and fodder as three fat ones. On the other hand, two fat 
horses will do the work of three poor ones. Therefore, each planter, if he 
would grow rich, must not pay out the money he makes on cotton in buy- 
ing corn. He ought to raise enough of the one to support the other. The 
idea of a big cotton crop and little corn is erroneous. But to return to our 
subject. When the corn land is ready, lay off your rows six feet wide with 
a turned shovel or a small turning plow. Plant deep in the ground, but 
2 



10 

cover shallow. If you have jxood stable manure, tjnano, or cotton seed 
plant three feet apart; if you have neither, four fi'ct by six in the drill. 
This will leave a good distance and room for ]K'as. I'lant two jri'tiins in a 
hill, for it is better to thin out than to rc])lant. and re|)lanleil corn seldom 
makes more than half a crop. Corn shonid be planted as eaily as possible in 
Middle Cieorgia and (jther similar latitudes. The last of February is the best 
time. There are several advantages in an early crop: it makes more and 
better corn, and leaves extra time for cultivation of eotton — no mean con- 
sideration, when cotton is thirty cents a ]>ouiid. "^I'lie extreme heat of sum- 
mer is unfavorable to the matming of this crop, and it slioidd be well 
advanced before this comes on. Be sure to select good gourd seed corn; 
then, for every bushel of corn, mix one quart of coal tar with one gallon of 
boiling water, stirring the mixtun^ thoroughly. Then, when it has become 
bloo<l warm, put in the corn. Stir the corn until every grain looks as if it 
had been varnished, adding soot enotigh to make it drop easily. The coal 
tar is very bitter, and so is the soot ; and this mixture nut only protects tlie 
seed from wet and cold, but from insects and birds; acts as a fertilizer, 
making the young plant stiong and liealthy, and preventing its decay. Coal 
tar can be purchased at the gas works for about twenty cents a galh^n. I 
have used it on lands below Savannah, (ja., in Burke count v. Ga., and in the 
low counties in Mississippi. In some of these places I found, as enemies to 
the crop, rats, mice, crow.^, jack<laws, and other birds. But not one of 
them woidd trouble corn soaked in this solution. Many rice planters use it 
to save bird minding. It is better than shooting the birds, for thev are 
valuable in the destruction of insects and vvoims. It is better than poison- 
ing, for that is sometimes dangerou.s. 

The furrows should be laid otf both ways — that is, checked, so as to have 
the hills regular. Let each hand measure and drop his own corn and cover 
with his foot. '1 he human foot covers better tlniii hoe, hai'row or scooter 
plow, for each of these tools is apt to move the grain and plant it too deep. 
Next to the foot the forked scooter is best. On river swamp lands sow corn 
very thick in the drill as you would cotton, and a lew days before it comes 
up run a harrow over the corn, to take otf the crust and some of the dirt, 
for fear the corn may be covered too deep, and also to level the ground. As 
it comes up, run round it with nine inch scooters and split out the middles; 
then hoe and leave two stalks in a hill two feet a|>art. Delay thinning as 
long as possible, for fear of cut worms. Have y<iiir rows at least five feet 
apart, to insure sutlicient sun and air. Even river lands require distance one 
way. Two good plow ings are sufHcieut, but the second must be thorough 
and deep. Then plant pumpkins and pt-as. Ju~t befu'e )>lanting, draw up 
the beds on river latids. On up lands plow your corn tlie wide wav. fir>t 
running round it with scooters, and splitting out with two turn plow furrows. 
When you plow the second time, plant ptas and split out all the middle 
clean, six furrows in a six loot row. Where trees and stumps are few. run 
four furrows with a turn plow and split out the middle. A steel bnzzaril 
plow, tliirty to forty inches wide, will save the work of one hand ami do the 
work better. For the third plowing, I'lin twice in a row with twenty-two 
inch steel buzzards, and once in the centre wiih steel buzzard, fortv iinhes 
wide. Disturb the bed nnide by the second plowing as little as pos>il)le, fop 
the second is the plowing that makes the cr^ p. The third pi »wiiig i-hould 
be very shallow, barely skimming the grmind wiih three turns in a row. 
Next hill, giving a good hill, and drawing the soil to the corn from a dis- 



11 

tancc of at loa^t a foot and a lialf around. Chopping close to tlie corn does 
iMoie Iiaiiii tlian o-"0(l. Some planters |»lHnt c.>ni f«iiir and a half feet each 
wav and plow each way. Olhers plant five feet \>y three, plowing the narrow 
wav tlie Hist and seond times, and the third time the wide. Some planters 
use scooters aliine ; some break np witli scooters and finisii witli buzzards. 
AVhere lands are stitt' and lialde ti) run together, this is the better mode of 
cultivaliin ; l>ut where the snij is good and ph-nty of manure, it will require 
strouii- horse power, 'i he l)ixon sweep and horse lioes will do well on light 
sandy lands well broken up. 'J"he<c plows must be very sliarp — the horses 
stronu' to In '1(1 tlnin in jilace, and the ci'op must be worked often. 1 he 
field should be thoroughly broken and leveled for all kinds of plows; 
thereby tin; (;rop is P'ore easily cultivated, the soil more evenly mi.xed. tlie 
moisture better retaineil, the rows hdd otT more evenly. To plant new 
ground,, si'ooter up both ways; lay olF the rows Hve or six feet apart one 
way, two or three feet the other. Make a hole in the hill with a grubbing 
hoe, and i)Iant three or four grains in a hill — sufficient for a good stand. 
I'laiit deep — just after a rain, if possible ; cover shallow. The second time 
plow on both sides of your corn and plant peas. My own plan for Middle 
(ieorgia is, to plant six feet by three, if the laiul is manured; if not, six by 
three and a haU". To plant deep and cover shallow. 'I'he first plowing I 
run round the corn with nine incli scooters, deep, and two furrows. The 
second plowino- 1 tuin four furrows to the row with turn plows, and split out 
the centre with forty inch steel buzzard, very .'•harp and Hat. This saves the 
labor of one hand, splits out the middle that woidd require three furrows of 
a turn plow, and leaves the land in better state for third plowing. For tliird 
plowing, run twice in a row with a twenty-two inch steel buzzard, and once 
with a twodiorse buzzard. 

Corn should always be planted in good time; for if it gets stunted from 
not being worked in season, il can never be sufficiently recovered to make a 
good crop. In this respect corn and cotton diti'er, for if cotton gets grassy 
yon can work it out successfully. A few days after third plowing, hoe the 
corn over and hill it, drawing up the dirt some distance from the stock, 
making a goo<l Hat hill. Drilled corn can be made with less work. My 
plan is either tt> plow twice with nine furrows, or three times with 
twelve; with good liorses and plows, and not too large a crop, with ten 
furrows. If the land is well broken and harrowed, run round the corn with 
scooters and plow out all the middle at second plowing. I once made a 
good crop with seven furrows, on the plantation of A. J. Lawson, in Burke. 
1 broke up the land very deep, and manured very highly with cotton seed. 
The Hrst plowing 1 ran round the corn twice to a row. That year I had a 
heavy cotton cr.'p, and before I could get to the second plowing, owing to 
the deep tillage, the manure and frequent rains, the corn was waist high and 
very grassy. I plowed it out clean, four furrows with turn plow and one 
with two horse i»uzzard. It was running some risk, but it rained several 
days after and the corn did not Hre, so that I succeeded. Some three weeks 
after I hilled it and made a Hue crop. 

I will now give my reasons why it is best to drill corn. I have said it c^n 
be made with less work, and economy of labor is never a mean considera- 
tion. Then it is not so hard either to liorse or ploughman to walk on level 
ground. If you plant in the hill and plow both ways, the liorse and plow- 
man must walk on high beds. It takes almost double the plowing to culti- 
vate corn in hills. Some do so to save hoeing, but if the land be well 



12 

broken and hanowed it will need no hoeintr. Take all hands some dav, 
when it is too wet to plow, and use long paddles, and the crop can be thinned 
in a short time. Drilled corn should always be plowed with a two-horse 
steel buzzard in the centre of the row. Never make a ditch in the middle 
of a corn row. Leave a small bed, and never split out clean with a turn 
plow. To procure good seed corn, select first your brag field — one that has 
not suffered for want of cultivation or rain. Then choose five acres, the 
very best. After the first killing frost, when the corn is ripe enough to be 
pulled, select those stalks which have the largest ears, and two to a stalk. 
No matter whether it be top or bottom ear, always take the largest. Pro- 
cure your seed in this manner every year until the corn begins to overshoot 
like the Baden corn. In that case, select your seed only every other year. 
Never plant white and yellow corn in the same field ; they will mix, and the 
purer the seed the better. Plant gourd seed corn on the salts, and in two 
years it will change to flint. Plant flint corn a hundred miles above Savan- 
nah and it will turn to gourd seed, or be a mixture, only fit for stock. There 
are several kinds of yellow corn, and some planters say it will grow best on 
poor land. I cannot say from experience. I have generally planted gourd 
seed in the up-country and pure flint on the salts. Some planters bar off 
the corn stalks, throwing the bed into the centre to save two or three furrows. 
When they go to plant corn they plow up the stalks. I disapprove this 
plan, from the fact that the land is not more than half plowed. When you 
plow your corn the first time you are obliged to split out all the middles 
clean ; and if the ground is very hard, scooters will have to be used, making 
double the labor. Again, some rows will be six feet wide, some five and 
some four; or they will be wide at one end and narrow at the other. It will 
take more furrows to the rovsft Experience has taught me that corn is 
gained and labor saved by leveling the land and equalizing the soil, and this 
is best done by breaking up across the rows and harrowing. The harrow 
should be made of tough, seasoned wood, four feet square, with forty iron 
teeth, about an inch square and twelve inches long, sharpened well at the 
points. This utensil will require two horses, and will harrow about ten 
acres per day. The harrow has been heretofore but little used in the South- 
ern States, from the fact that most planters planted so largely to the horse 
and hand that they found no time to harrow. But now that labor saving 
implements are in requisition, it will be found very useful, particularly in the 
cultivation of small grain. The cultivation of small grain has never been 
successful at the South, because the land was not properly prepared and the 
crop is generally sowed too late. This matter should be looked into, for 
small grain is valuable not only for the hands and horses, but is a most ex- 
cellent pasturage for stock. 

I will now give another method of planting corn on second and third quality 
lands, wherever there are few stumps and trees. Dig up the stumps and cut 
the trees as near the surface as possible. If near a city it will pay to pre- 
serve both and sell for fuel. Break and harrow the land as level as possible. 
Lay off the rows six feet both ways, and plant from four to five grains in a 
hill. Put a half peck of stable manure or a quart of cotton seed to a hill. 
Plant deep and cover shallow. Planting six feet by six leaves plenty of 
I'oom for two horses to walk, and also for a crop of peas, and to split the 
rows with thirty or forty inch steel buzzard, or with Dixon sweeps. Have 
the plows well sharpened, with short single trees. With a gang of scooters 
to split out the middles and side the corn, it pays to run over the crop four 



IS 

times. Very few Southern planters have ever used good plows ; they should 
run level and true and straight. Put manure in deep, and you cannot use 
too much. Most farmers use so little that the strength gives out about the 
time the corn silks and tassels, making a large stalk and little corn. Some 
planters may object to six feet each way and prefer six feet by three and one 
stalk to the hill. But this would give only the same number of stalks in a 
field, and would not leave so much room for peas and free circulation of air, 
the corn is not so apt to be "scatter-grain" and rot, and it is not so hot to 
work or pull the fodder. Cover manure deep that it may retain moisture. 
If the planter cuts a hay crop, wide rows will be another advantage, and he 
will have fewer hills to manure. In dry and hot weather corn should be 
hilled only in the morning and evening — never in the heat of the day. If 
corn is badly cultivated, neglected, and not worked at proper times, there 
will be double quantity of rotten corn when you gather it. Where two 
stalks of corn are planted to the hill it is not necessary to tie the fodder in 
bundles; it will cure nicely between the stalks, and this is an economy of 
time. Rotten fodder injures horses. In two-stalk corn, should one good 
stalk remain, better not replant the other. They should both be of one age. 
Lands broken up in December are less apt to be troubled with cut worms. 
They are generally most troublesome on lands which have been lying out, 
and in a wet, cold spring. Corn in drills does well on very rich land, but must 
have room one way to give air. Two-horse plows are always preferable. 
The necessary farming implements will gradually be made in the Southern 
States as her prosperity increases. I have used two-horse buzzard for several 
years, working two mules. I have split middles with two-horse Dixon 
plows which would have required three furrows with turn plows. You can- 
not plant corn too deep, because corn grows up but cotton grows down. If 
you throw a bed to corn every time you plow, you are more than likely to 
leave a small ditch in the centre of the row. Then, on thirsty lands, unless 
you get rain plentifully, the water will seek its level and soak to the centre 
of each row, leaving the bed dry. The manure will not do half the good, 
and the corn will fire. If the crop should, from disadvantageous circum- 
stances, get weedy or grassy, then turn plows are necessary. If the planter 
can go over his crop every fifteen days, they will not be needed. 

It is economy for a planter to keep his mules and horses fat. In all the 
Southern States mules are better than horses on aceount of the intense heat, 
and because they can be kept, after the crop is laid by, on crow foot and 
joint grass pastures, while horses require corn. Horses are more subject to 
disease and require more care and attention than mules. Planting is most 
desirable business when pursued under advantageous circumstances; but 
good implements, good stock, good seed, are as necessary as judgment and 
discretion in guiding and plowing. Small farms usually pay better than 
large. With heavy taxes, unreliable freedmen, and many other discouraging 
surroundings, a man must of necessity attend personally to every arrange- 
ment. In times of slavery the master had but to order to be obeyed. Now 
he must watch to see that his instructions are carried out. A man must 
rise early and stay late, control, encourage, reprimand — in short, the Farm 
is no longer the play-ground of the retired business man or elegant South- 
ron, but an every-day labor — a work that will weary both busy hand and 
brain. 



14 

A SUCCESSFUL WAY TO MAKP] CORN 

ON ANY KIND OF LAND, PARTICULARLY STIFF LAND. 

Tlirow lip deep and liiiih bods, and let the water fmrow be deep. Just 
betnie phiiitiiio- tlndw t\v«> furrows into water t'nriow. Make a fiat lidge 
Willi turn plow; open in the centre willi nine iinli scooter to plant. Having 
two i'lUTows of loose soil, tlie corn will coiiie up better and i:io\v <.ff faster. 
'Jlic land will retain iiioihtiire longer and can be plowt-d better than tiist 
plowing, and tiu; iiiaimre will mix with the soil better and do nmre good. 
'Jlie corn and inaniire are not so subjrct to wash away or be covered up with 
dirt. Then a good bed can be put to the corn the lirsl plowing with tnrn 
plow, and the last or middle furrow with solid sweep, leaving the earth level. 
'Ihc after culture on (dd light land should be with Dixon's .sweep. 



CULTIVATION OF SHORT STAPLE COTTON. 

Lay oft' the rows three and a half or four feet wide, with nine inch scooters, 
tolerably deep, earlv in spring, and run around two good furrows, forming a 
good, straight lidge. If it is to be manured, make the centre furrow very 
deep. It the manure is not well rotted, run a second furrow in the first, 
with two-horse, long-pointed, eleven or twelve inch shovel plow. Strew the 
manure in a wet time, as it will not do well to put it in dry. Cover with 
two good furrows with turn plow, and subsoil after in turn plow furrows and 
split out with shovel plow deep. Do this in February, if possible — the 
sotmer the better, in order to give the manure sullicieiit time to mi.\ with 
the soil, and the latter time to settle. 

Manured cotton should be dibbled. Make small holes twenty or twenty- 
four inches apart, putting five or six seed in a hill, ami cover very lightly. 
Do not make them deep enough to disturb the manure. 'I he more compact 
the cotton beds arc the sooner the seed will germinate, the more firmly 
rooted it will be before striking the manure, and the less apt, therefore, to 
die. Very few ]dantors put manure in deep enough. When put in too 
shallow the crop receives more injury than benefit. It is chopped outatthe 
fir>t or second hoeing, especially if the cotton is allowed to liecome very 
grassy and the plant turns yellow and sheds its fruit. The planter will make 
a fine crop of grass and weeds, and very little cotton. The roots growing 
near tlui surface arc; baked bv the sun, become diseased, and many of the 
stalks die. The tap root, which mainly supp uts the plant, grows from ten 
to twelve inches deep, and unless the manure is put in very deep will grow 
below it. 

Cotton should be thinneil very early, so that it mav grow otf rapidly. If 
it remains too long it will fail down, the stalks being long and tender, and 
will be (lifHenlt to hoe and plow. ()n unmanured lands, at the first hoeing, 
leave one to two stalks in lulls the width of a cotton hoc apart. It is better 
to have too many than too few, as some will die out, becovere<l up by second 
plowin<r, or be killed by lice, cut worms, (tc. It is impossible to make a full 
crop unless a good stand is procured. 



15 

On first qnalitv lanfls, tliat is, on river bottoms, prairies and ij^lands, pfood 
distance should ho given. On the best binds in the Western cotton grow- 
ing States, planters uive iVom five to six feet distance in tlic rows by two 
feet in the (bill, leaving (^ic or two stalks in a hill. I knew of one planta- 
tion on Honey Island, on the I hula river, in Mississippi, where the cotton 
was planted si.x feet by three. The i)lace was owned by Ikidiard T. Archy, 
and was the finest cotton land I ever saw. In SepteMd)cr, 1847, cotton 
planted as above stated was so thick as to ren(kM' it impassable for a horse 
between the rows. Mr. A. and many other planters in Mississippi dibbled 
their cotton, putting fonr or five seed in a liill. 'Ihere are many advantages 
connecteil with this method of planting. I-ess seed are required, a consid- 
eration, however, having less infinenco with tlie planters in that State, as 
very few of them ns(!tlie seed as manure. The principal advantage gained 
is tlie amount of lioeing saved. 

Bi'fore dibbling the betls are generally scraped off with a heavj' oak 
board, arranged with a pair of shafts — the horse walking between the rows 
and scraping two beds at a time. This leaves them smooth, firm, and in 
fine order bir the dibble and for cultivation. 

In hoeing cotton the first time, all grass should be carefully chopped and 
pulled out, as it will be very apt to be troublesome if left, especially if June 
should be a wet month. Careless hoe hands are very apt to cover up the 
grass around the stalks, and by the second hoeing it will have taken such 
firm root that in getting rid of it the stand of cotton will very probably be 
injured. At the first hoeing the stalks should be well braced with dirt, 
e.'-pecially in light, porous lands, as it may be blown down by severe winds, 
or be covered up by carcb'ss plow hands. 

At the second hoeing kill all grass; leave one or two of the most prom- 
ising stalks in each hill; and when there is a bad stand, leave two or three 
on each side of the missing hills. 

At the third hoeing, if the plow hands have done their duty, it will bo 
necessary merely to go over the crop and chop up the bunches of gras.s, 
knocking the dirt from the r ots with the back of the hoe. At each work- 
ing particular attention should be paid to clearing the grass and weeds 
around stumps and trees, particularly on fresh lands. 

Manured cotton should receive two woikinns as earlv as possible, as it will 
tlien grow ott" very rapidly and be less liable to injury from the grass. Cot- 
ton shoidd not be worked after the 28tli of July, as it will cause the fruit to 
shed, ami will iheiefne be productive of more injury than benefit. It sliouhl 
be laid by with the plow sooner, if possible. TIk- hoes mav go ovi'r the 
crop and take out the bunches of grass from the middle of the rows, but 
should not disturb the roots of the cotton. Hilled cotton should be planted 
on naturally fertile or well manured land. On second or thiid quality uf 
lands, lay otf three by four feet, and put in manure early and deep. At 
planting lime take otf the surface of the hill with a weeding hoe and dibble 
in the centre four or si.\ seed, covering it vcrN liglnlv. liv this means vou 
d>'stroy the grass that is coining up. ami enable llie cotton to keep ahead of 
the second crop of grass and weeds. iiuii around it wiili a Miiall steil 
buzzard and ihin to iwo or ihree -talks al the iii>t hoeing It is best also 
to have the middles sjilit out enlirelv at the first |)lou ing, so as t" keep them 

clear o| grass; and if the cotton iImU' >Iioi.|.1 lien l>ec e foul, liie hoe 

hands can draw the grass inio the middles, to be more elbctually killeil by 
the [)luws at the ne.\t working. 



16 

In manuring hilled cotton, chop deep holes in every check with grabbing 
hoe and put in the manure early in the spring. This method of planting 
cotton possesses many advantages, and will, in my judgment, produce a 
larger yield than the ordinary plan of drilling. Less manure is required, 
less labor in spreading it, and less seed in planting the crop — an important 
item in the older States, where the seed are needed as a fertilizer for corn. 
Hilled cotton also requires less labor in hoeing the crop. 

When new grounds are planted in cotton, the seed should be put in very 
early, as they will require a longer time to germinate than on old lands. The 
land should be broken up early in January both ways, with small scooters, 
and then bedded. At planting time run a deep furrow in the centre of the 
bed and strew the seed very thick in order to procure a good stand. Cover 
with oak board, and afterwards let the hoe hands go over the field and cover 
all seed left out by the board. If the planter hasn't time to carry out the 
directions above in regard to new grounds, he can lay off with nine inch 
scooter, run a second time in the same furrow, strew in the seed, and cover 
with two scooter furrows. This will give the seed a deep, firm bed, and the 
middles can afterwards be split out with scooters. If new grounds are 
bedded late in the spiiiig they will be left too porous to retain sufficient 
moisture for the young plants, and a bad stand will be the result. 

It is best to plant the land in corn and peas the first year after clearing, as 
it will pay better than cotton. Cotton lands should never be rebedded, as 
this process leaves the ridges too loose, and the seed, from a lack of moisture 
and warmth, will be less apt to germinate and grow off rapidly. If the land 
has been planted in cotton the preceding year, run a deep furrow, with nine 
inch scooter, in the middles, following with two furrows with turn plow. 
Leave the balks until five or six days before planting; then split them out 
with large, two-horse steel buzzards, unless on rooty and grassy lands, in 
which case two furrows with a turn plow will be required. If the buzzards 
can be used they will do very pretty work; leave the beds sufficiently high 
and will save considerable lal)or in the preparation for planting. If the turn 
plow is used, run only deep enough to plow up the grass and weeds. When 
ready to plant, run a three inch scooter in the centre of the bed, and sow 
the seed carefully and regidai'ly. Nothing is gained by careless or hurried 
planting. 

Never plant when the ground is very wet, as the seed are apt to be cov- 
ered too deep, and on slifi" lands a crust will he formed, wliicli will retard 
the seed in coming up. After breaking through the crust the plants will 
look yellow and sickly, and a great many of them will die. 

Cotton should not be sown too thick on old land, as it will be difficult to 
hoc and plow, especially the latter part of the crop, which will grow with 
long, tender shanks before being thinned. A convenient board for covering 
cotton may be made by taking a piece of oak twenty-two inches long, saw- 
ing an inch deep in the centre of the lower edge, and sloping it off" to a 
distance of three inches on each side of the incision. This will draw in the 
dirt on either side, and cover a three inch scooter furrow very nicely. The 
stocks used in covering should be very light, so that the seed may not be 
covered too deep. It will be best to have a special stock made for this 
purpose. 

When cotton is ready for plowing, especially on rough, grassy lands, it is 
best to run a twelve inch shovel in the centre of the middles, plowing as 
near as possible to stumps and trees; then bar the cotton with a turn plow, 



n 

running only deep enough to cover the grass, and leaving a narrow ridge for 
the hoes to chop through. This will leave the land in nice order, will pro- 
vent the grass from taking root in the middles, and vvill enable the planter 
to dispense with splitting the middles at the second plowing. At thai 
plowing, which should be done as soon as the hoes have gone over the crop, 
it will be necessary merely to run around the cotton with twenty -two inch 
buzzards or Dixon sweep. At third working split out with three or four 
furrows with same plows, and at fourth working run only three times in the 
middles, taking care not to get too near the cotton. At each plowing after 
the first, steel buzzards should be used, and should be run only deep enough 
to destroy the grass and weeds. It is not advisable to plant low, sandy, 
hammock lands in cotton, as they vvill be very difficult to cultivate in wet 
seasons on account of the grass, and will pay better in corn or small grain. 

Cotton on rich lauds should be topped about the middle of August, as it 
will cause the weed to spread and fruit hotter, and w 11 make the bolls near 
the top of the stalk mature more rapidly and produce whiter staple. This 
process will be necessary, more particularly when a drought occurs and a 
second growth of the plant succeeds it. 

There has been quite a variety of species of the staple planted in this 
State, (Georgia;) among them the Boyd's Prolific, Texian Bur, Mastodon, 
Pettigulf, Old Green Seed, Mexican, Dickson, and Zipporah or Silk Cotton. 
Manv of the planters of the Southwestern cotton-growing States have made 
quite a lucrative business of shipping the seed of the foregoing and other 
varieties to the more Eastern States, sending them as far up as Edgecomb 
county, North Carolina. This trade was carried on mostly from Mexico, 
Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the seed in those States not being needed 
as manure. The staple in the Eastern States has by this means been very 
much improved, the seed of the varieties shipped being much smaller 
and yielding more lint, besides being much more easily picked. The last 
feature, however, is considered a disadvantage by some, as, unless picked 
very soon after opening, it will fall out, become stained, and thus injure the 
sale of the cotton. If it remains long on the ground, it is best to leave it 
to be plowed in as manure. 

Seed may be improved by a change from red, stiff" land to a more sandy 
soil, or the contrary. This I have proven in my own experience. Planters 
generally use too little care in the selection of seed. All cotton from which 
seed is to be taken for planting should be sunned, and should be sufficiently 
ventilated, after being put away in the gin house, as to prevent its under- 
going a sweating process. An excellent scaff"old for sunning cotton may be 
made of peeled poles raised four or five feet from the ground by forks. This 
will give ventilation from beneath, and if the cotton is stirred occasionally 
the sand and dust will sift through the spaces between the poles, and leave 
the cotton in much better condition for the gin. After the seed for planting 
are selected, they should not be kept in too large a bulk, but in smaller 
heaps, so that they may be suflSciently aired to prevent injury from sweating. 
They should also be occasionally stirred for the same purpose. 

Seed should be selected from the second picking about the lOth of Octo- 
ber. If the precautions above mentioned were more generally attended to 
by planters, there would be less complaint of bad stands among them. 
More attention is paid to this subject in the Southwestern States than is 
given it here. Planters in those States frequently go over their crops, mark- 
ing the most prolific and healthy stalks, and then have the cotton from those 
3 



18 

Btalks picked separately, sunned before being ginned, and the seed kept sep- 
arate. This plan might be generally adopted and the seed therely much 
improved. Particular care should be taken that seed are not selected from 
cotton that has been injured by rust, the caterpillar or boll-worm, or where 
many of the stalks have died before frost. If the caterpillar or boll-worms 
has injured the cotton, the land should be planted in some other crop the 
succeeding year. 

When cotton is sunned before ginning, less lint will be left in the seed, 
and it can be ginned more rapidly and with more ease. If it is damp the 
saws are apt to become napped or the gin choked, causing considerable loss 
of time, besides cleaning the seed verv imperfectly. 

The Old Green Seed Cotton mentioned a!)ove was planted as long ago as I 
can remember — about 1828 — in small pat(dies. These were soon enlarged 
itUo fields. ;ind the seed of other varieties imported from the West, among 
which were the Mexican, Mastodon and Pettigulf. Other species still, as the 
Boyd's Prolific, Zipporah and Dickson's Prolific, have been developed more 
recently. The last named variety is considered by many intelligent and suc- 
cessful planters as the best known. I cannot speak from my own experience 
in regard to it, as it is the only kind of those above mentioned that I have 
never planted. 

The Boyd's P!i.>lific bears finely, and opens nearly all of its fruit before 
frost. The Mexican is also a good cotton, is easy to pick, and has a larger 
stalk than the Boyd's Prolific. The Pettigulf has a small white seed, and 
docs not differ lunch from th-.- Mexican. 'I"he Zipporah bears a finer staple, 
but is not so pi'olific as the "tlier varieties. The Mastodon grows very tall, 
bears but few bolls, but very large ones, and grows until frost. Its culture 
has been superseded by better kinds. The Te.xian Bur is merely an im- 
proved species of Pettigulf 

Oak and hickory lands, witli red clay foundation, are best for cotton, hold- 
ing moisture and manure better than lighter soils, and for that reason also 
more susceptible of improvement. Some pine lands make a fine weed, but 
do not boll as well as the oak lands, (rray lands cause cotton to grow off" 
earlier and more rapidly than red lands, i)ut do not bear fruit as long. Lands 
that become boggv in the spring should never be planted in cotton, as they 
will bo very difficult to cultivate. T^ands lying on creeks or branches will do 
best in cotton, as it will suffer no injury from coons and squirrels. The cul- 
tivation (if cotlon will now pay laiger interest on the funds invested than 
any other crop in the Southern States, even though the productiveness of 
labor under the present system has been diminished at least fifty per cent. 
Planters usually devote too large a proportion of their crops t© cotton. It 
will pay better to plant less and manure more highly — to devote more land 
to corn and small grain, raise more provisions and more manure at home. I 
have been planting (;otton for foity years in six States, and I know from 
experience that it is a difficult crop to manage, especially where it is planted 
largely in grassy lands. There is very little pleasure in cultivating a grassy 
crop of cotton. 

Lands lying near large opm ponds or lakes generally produce cotton well. 
The ponds should never be drained, as they cannot be cultivated to anv ad- 
vantage, and they art- more /ipt to create malaria and cause sickness. When 
filled, the grass and water weeds around then! afford fine pasturage for stock. 
The expense of keeping open the drains is very heavy, and crops on these 
lands are very apt to suffer if the season? should be at all dry. I had several 



19 

open ponds on my plantation in Burke county, and expended considerable 
capital in keeping them drained, but found that it was a very unprotitable 
investment. My fainllv also suffered more from the etfects of miasma than 
before the drains were cut. 

Large amounts have been expended by planters in the South ttjr the pur- 
pose of rendering these lands arable, but usually, I think, with veiT inade- 
quate results. 1 would, therefore, advise that these ponds be left undisturbed 
by the spade or plow. 

There are some boggy lands in this State sometimes termed by planters 
cow-hide lands, because "they have no clay foundation. These and the pipe 
clay soils generally pay a very small per ceutage of profit for the expense of 
cultivation, and 1 would advise those wishing to purchase land to avoid in- 
vesting in either of the kinds above named. To these may also be added 
lands infested with either nut or joint grass. It is very difficult to cultivate 
a crop in such soils, and almost impossible to get rid of either species of 
grass. The latter affords tine pasturage for stock, but should not be allowed 
to spread over fields intended for cultivation. 

Broken lands, if planted in cotton, should be cultivated horizontally to 
prevent washing. It is best, however, to sow them in small grains, as the 
labor of cultivation is much more severe on man and beast than when the 
lands are level. 

I have planted cotton in every species of soil in the Southern States ; 
have made farming my occupation and study since 1828; and give the fore- 
going as the results of my observation and experience in the culture of the 
staple during that period. 

The above chapter was written in the year 1868. In the years ISHD and 
1870 I planted the Dixon improved seed. Tt proved to be a very prolific, 
close boiling cotton, very early, gowd staple, and easy to pick. Tn planting, 
it should be left thick in the drill ; two stalks the width of a common cotton 
hoe apart, and not over three and a half feet in the row, unless the land be 
rich. It is well suited to any latitude in the Cotton States, and has the 
advantage over any other in the northern portions of these States, where the 
seasons are short, since it comes very early and matures sooner than any 
other species I ever planted. To improve the growth, yield and staple of 
cotton, select about the 10th of October from a fertile field that has been 
well cultivated. No cotton should be picked from that field until the select 
cotton has been gathered. Select the largest, healthiest, most prolific stalks, 
and from the most prolific limbs, that have from six to twelve bolls on them, 
and from the centre of each stalk pick two or three bolls next the stalk. 
These are large and well jnatured bolls, and having opened early, will be 
likely to produce early cotton. Select bolls that have five locks of cotton. 
After the cotton has been ginned, pick out the black and green seed, and 
retain the white seed only. Plant small patches of from five to ten acres of 
the best land, well fertilized ; from these select your seed. Cotton can thus 
be greatly improved, and it will pay all planters thus to select their seed 
every year. The Mississippi planters thus select their seed. A large planter 
who was very successful pursued this plan. Every year he planted a brag- 
patch, the cotton from which he called double extra. After a few choice 
bolls were selected for next year's patch, the patch was picked clean to plant 
the large fields. The seed was much improved, and better than seed taken 
from fields where no selections had been made. Most large planters planted 



20 



with a dibble, to save hoeing, by distributing the seed more accurately, and 
all the seed thus saved was shipped to the Eastern States ; few planters ever 
thought of applying the cotton seed as manure. This little tool — the 
dibble — consists of only three pieces one inch square each. The rude dia- 
gram which accompanies will explain its form and offices : 



No. L, or the perpendicular strip, forms the handle, and is held by the 
operator. The lower extremity of this and of No. 3 is round pointed so 
as to make the holes a sufficient depth, which is about one inch. No. 2 has 
a slot oi- mortice made through it a considerable part of its length, so as No. 
:^ can slide back and forth in it and be adjusted to the distance desired by 
the planter. A brace laid from a to i would give increased strength to the 
tool. A laborer possessed of some care and judgment is required to place 
the points of the dibble accurately upon the centre of the cotton bed. In 
each successive application, the point of No. 1 must be inserted into the 
hole previously made by No. 2. Thus extreme accuracy of distance maybe 
attained in planting the seed. Four or five seed are sufficient, if sound. Where 
cotton is dibbled, it is best to cover the seed with a hand-board. This is a 
vei-y light ;uid courenient tool for the purpose, and is made of a small piece 
of wood, inch board, four inches wide and six long, attached to a handle 
like a weeding hoe's. It requires somewhat more time and labor to plant a 
crop in this manner, but in the result it will prove remunerative. 

Cotton seed, for planting, should never be soaked, unless the land is in a 
moist condition. If the land be very dry, the seed will sprout; and for 
want of surrounding moisture, the sprout will perish, and a bad stand will 
be the consequence. On light, sandy lands, for short staple cotton, secure 
a small bed to plant on, and cultivate entirely with the Dixon sweep. This 
is tlie best mode of culture, especially if the land is fertilized. 

DOW LAW'S COTTON PLANTER 

Is the best now iu common use. It sows the cotton seed or guano very 
regularly, in amount as you may desire, thick or thin ; easy to manage, and 
not apt to get out of order. 



21 



CULTIVATION OF SEA ISLAND COTTON, 

LONG STAPLE— BLACK SEED. 

This cotton was planted extensively, previous to the war, on the sea coasts 
of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, growing well on the plantations on 
the main land bordering the shore, but better on the islands adjacent. In 
the years 1844 and 1845, I planted some fine seed, called the Big Creana, 
imported by Mr. Seabrook, of South Carolina, on Skiddiway Island, pro- 
ducing very fine staple, but a short yield. The same years I planted another 
kind called X Y, not so fine, but more prolific and harder. Two bales to 
the hand is the average crop. The lands are light, spongy and porous, 
requiring very little plowing, and fertilized with marsh mud and sea weed. 

I propose, from my own experience, giving a few plain practical hints on 
the culture of the same. 

Ridge up the land early in the autumn. Lay off" the rows as nearly 
straight as possible, making them four feet wide. This is done with a weed- 
ing hoe. Collect all the weeds and litter and spread in the centre of the 
row. Sometime about the 1st of January, cover the weeds with marsh mud, 
this being a preferable fertilizer to sea weed, as it takes the latter too long 
to decay. Then with the hoe form a bed sufficiently high to plant your 
cotton, and let it stand till planting time. Just before planting side haul 
the beds and draw off the weeds like drawing off sweet potatoes for plant- 
ing. Weed the top of the beds and put in your seed about the 1st of 
x\pril. Drill small holes about twenty inches apart, and plant from four to 
five seed in a place. When large enough for the first hoeing, side haul on 
both sides and thin to three or four stalks, never thinning to a stand till 
second hoeing. At that time, two stalks in a place will be sufficient. 

The land is generally sandy, and cannot be made too rich or compact. 
Great care is also necessary, owing to the manner of fertilizing, to keep down 
the weeds and grass. The rich land not only produces more cotton, but a 
finer staple, and gins to better advantage. 

For many years the planters ginned their cotton with roller gins by hand, 
but the improved horse power gin has rendered the burden lighter and a 
more profitable yield. On the chain of islands stretching from South Caro- 
lina southward to the Gulf there is still every inducement to planters. Flint 
corn, sweet potatoes and long staple cotton are the principal crops. No 
fencing is required by law; saving ihe time, labor and money requisite for 
the same, and leaving ample opportunity to mellow and fertilize the ground. 
Fish and oysters are taken in abundance, requiring little or no meat; conse- 
quently very few hogs are ever raised on the islands. The little plowing 
needful, and all the hauling, can be done with oxen, kept at very little 
expense. The work can be so planned, by judicious management, as to lose 
no time. 

During slavery the hands were tasked, and generally finished in time to 
fish, and probably did less work than any laborers in the world. They cul- 
tivated from seven to nine acres to the hand, and did it with the hoe. Deep 
ditching and thorough draining is necessary, in order to shut off" the salt 
water, which, in tides and storms, overflows the islands, and causes the cotton 
to shed its fruit if it remains on the land any length of time. But all this 



22 

can be so arranged with gates and dains as to avoid heavy outlay and 
expense. 

The climate is mild and salubrious even in winter, and in summer there is 
little danger of fever to those who are not exposed to the sun. The sea 
breeze is very delightful. Bread is easily raised ; and with the oysters, 
clams, tish and turtles, and finest mullet in the world, there is no prospect of 
starvation. Oranges and lemons are successfully cultivated, and the salt 
water bathing is one of the greatest luxuries. Boating is the common method 
of traveling, owing to the scarcity of horses. The ciops are made with far 
less work than those in the up-country. Corn is no object save to bread 
the community, and the cotton always commands the highe.st prices, giving 
an average of ready money rarely equalled. In 1843 I carried hands from 
Scriven county, Ga., to Skiddiway island, to operate on the plantation of 
Major Starke. I remained for two years. The Major wished me to try the 
up-country method of cultivation, and I carried number one plow hands, but 
it would not do. I did not make half a crop. The plow left the land so 
loose that, with the first storm, half the cotton blew up by the roots. My 
hands had been accustomed to work all day, and regarded the natives as 
trifling and worthless. My men would do as much work as any two of 
them ; and having no relish for fish or oysters, could not be prevailed upon 
to join any of their excursions. 

After having managed business in nearly all the cotton growing States, I 
believe I can safely say that, with judicious management, there are few 
places in the world where more money can be made, with as many comforts, 
as few disadvantages, as little labor, and as comfortable a general arrange- 
ment, as on the seaboard of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. 

Select for long staple cotton as directed for the short staple, reversing the 
selection by taking out the green and white seed, and leaving the black to 
be planted. The long staple cotton of J. V. Jones, Six Oaks, selected in 
this way, is more prolific, has larger bolls and stalks, and is less liable to rust 
of any black seed cotton I have ever planted. It is well adapted to the 
pine lands in the vicinity of Augusta as well as the lands of the up-country 
of Georgia, the long staple on any kind of land will yield more per acre 
cultivated with the hoe ; and the rainure, of whatever kind used, should 
have a liberal allowance of salt mixed with it. It should be put in deep, 
and the cotton cultivated with a Dixon sweep, run once in the row, and hoed 
bv hauling up the earth on both sides of the row lightly. 



LOW LAND GOLDEN RICE. 

In the cultivation of low laud tide swamp Golden Rice, the land must be 
drained thoroughly. Rice lands should be laid off" in plots of ten to thirty 
acres in extent. On each side of these rice fields, next the river and next 
the hio-h land, two large ditches, which are called canals, should be cut, and 
in laro-e fields one through the centre, connected by ditches less in size 
called ditches, and these by still smaller ditches. Square drains from the 
plots, so that the water may be taken oft" in due time, and all the crop may 
be planted, flowed and cultivated at the proper seasons. The ditches that 
run into the canals must be wider and deeper than the drains from the 
squares, so that the water may run freely into them from the square drains. 



23 

x\t the mouth of the river-side canal there must be a sfood trunk sunk deep 
in the bank, and made not to leak, and a good flood-g-ate to take off" and to 
hold water. 

Break np the land in Dei^ember with one-horse plows five inches deep, to 
expose it to the winter frost. Just before planting harrow it level, and roll 
it, if necessary, to brenk the clods. Lay otf the rows eighteen inches apart 
in the drill with a planting plow having a narrow wing on each side to throw 
out the soil to the right and left. Lay it off from four to five inches deep. 
Plant on the first quarter of the moon, in Marcli, if the weather is favora- 
ble ; if not, on the first quarter of the moon in April. Three bushels of 
seed will plant one acre. In order to get a good stand, cover the rice from 
two to three inches deep with a broad weeding hoe. As, soon as the rice is 
planted flow it, so as just to cover the rice field with water. Let the water 
stav on till the rice is sprouting and up ; then take ofi the water gradually. 
When all the water is taken off and the field dried, it is to be noticed that 
bird minders must guard the birds from the rice fields. As soon as the rice 
grows three inches high flow it again, and let the water stay on till the rice 
gets from five to seven inf^hes high; then take off the water gradually again. 
When the field drys hoe the rice and take out the grass, and take the clods 
off the rice. As soon as the field is hoed flow it again just so as to cover 
the rice, and let the water stay on a week or ten days. After hoeing over 
the second time flow it again. Let the water stay on till the rice is nearly 
ripe; then take off the water, and as soon as the field drys hoe it if neces- 
sary ; if not, flow it, and put on the long flow and let the water stay on it 
till the rice is ripe. Then take off the water gradually again. At every flow 
the water must be let off sh^wly, and the trash taken off the rice before the 
water is let off, or it will settle on the rice after the last flow. In a few days 
the rice will be ripe ; then cut it with reap hooks from twelve to fifteen 
inches above the surface. 

Lay the sheaves smoothly on the stubbles, so the air can circulate beneath 
them. Let the rice lay until it is perfectly cured and dry ; then tie it up 
into small bundles. It never should be tied up wet. The average task to 
cut is one acre per dav. Tie the rice up and put it into small cocks all over 
the field. It can remain in those cocks two and three months without 
damage, if necessary. After all the rice is cut in the field it can then be 
taken to the rice barn, carried in those canals in small flat boats up to the 
barn yard. It may be then stacked up into large ricks, on large scaffolds 
made for the purpose. Those ricks are from ten to twelve feet wide at the 
base, thirty feet long, ten feet high. If the land is very low the barn yard 
must be secured by cutting a ditch around the barn yard, throwing the dirt 
out on the opposite side. In case of very high water those ricks must be 
examined often to see if they dry. If they should heat they must be taken 
down and dried and then stacked up again into small ricks. For seed rice 
procure the largest, best matured grain. The seed should be perfectly ripe 
and stacked to itself, and must be beat out with frailing poles and put away 
dry. As soon as the rice crop is gathered the ditches and canals must be 
cleaned out down to the firm, hard bottom, and the loose dirt on the sides 
taken off and the levees made higher, if necessary, and all the leaks stopped. 
They should be cleaned out twice during the year; they should be noticed, 
and if there are any leaks they should be immediately stopped. If there 
should be any dry spots which cannot be flowed with water, they should be 
covered very deep in planting to keep them from the birds, and cultivated 



24 

entirely with the hoe. Rice planters generally make a solution of coal tar 
and soot to mix with the rice when planted. The mixture may be thus 
made: Take one quart of coal tar to one gallon of hot water; mix it while 
hot in a trough or tub, and stir it up till it gets to be milk warm ; to that 
quantity put in two bushels of rough rice, and stir it up till it looks like it 
had been varnished ; then put in soot enough to keep the grains from stick- 
ing to each other. It can be sowed more regular. If there should be a cold 
spell of weather about the time the rice comes up, in March or April, or at 
any time, the rice must be flowed with water just so as to cover it, and keep 
it on till the weather turns warm ; then take oti' the water. 

Lands best adapted to growing rice are those swamp and rust lands lying 
immediately adjacent to tide-water rivers, between 29 and 33 degrees north 
latitude. They are generally alluvial, and consists of blue clay and yellow 
molted clay, or black bay lands. Both contain a large per cent, of ising- 
glass, very important to rice crops. There is another class of lands adapted 
to rice as inland swamps. Those are large basins or lakes, surrounded by 
high lands, having water running into them, by which they are inundated. 
These basins being drained are easily reclaimed, and a portion is usually set 
as a reservoir for holding a sufficiency of water for irrigating purposes. 
These lands, though not so profitable as the river swamps or tide water lands, 
generally, under good management, produce heavier grain, and is recom- 
mended by most planters as best for seed. They generally have heavier 
soils and harder to cultivate. 

Tide river plantations are usually located a little above the junction of 
salt and fresh water, and extend up the banks of the rivers so far as the rise 
and fall of the tides are sufHcient for flooding and draining. This rise and 
fall should not be less than three or four feet, and six or eight feet is to 
be preferred, on account of the more perfect drainage of these latter hciglits. 
Rice plantations are located above the junction of salt and fresh water from 
the fact that rice, being an aquatic plant, requires a vast amount of fresh 
water during its growth ; salt water being fatal to it at all stages. The open 
trench planting of rice has been abandoned and soaking in clay given up. 
It was thought not to pay. Cover the rice with dirt three inches deep; it 
is the safest way to get a stand. There is no saving of time to plant in an 
open trench. If the water at any time becomes stale and the magot flj- — a 
white worm — attacks it, the water must be taken oti" for one or two days 
and then replaced with fresh water, and a guage mark set to keep the water 
at a certain height. Where water is abundant the magot can generally be 
avoided by changing the water once a week. To do so skilfully, both gates 
must be opened. At the young flood the stale water will rush out and fresh 
water come immediately back with the rising tide, to float the rice leaves 
and prevent them sticking to the ground in their fall. If the magot becomes 
damaging the field must be dried immediately. The presence of the magot 
may always be suspected by the stift' and unthrifty appearance of the rice. 
If there be no grass after the second hoeing, it should not be hoed any 
more. If cat tails and suckers should appear, they should be pulled up and 
laid on the banks, to expose them to the hot sun. The last flow, called the 
harvest flow, at the end of fifteen or twenty days, the water is returned to 
the field as deep as the rice and banks can bear it. This water, when cir- 
cumstances permit, is changed every week or two, by letting it ofl' on one tide 
and taking it back on the next — increasing the guage with the growth of the 
rice. When the heads of the rice are in the dough, near the surface, and 



25 

well filled, it is then fit to cut, and should be gathered as soon as possible, 
or it will shatter out. Draw off the water five days before cuttintj so the 
land will dry. It is said the first rice that was ever planted in the South 
was planted in a garden in Charleston, South Carolina. 

There are some fine rice lands in the lower part of South Carolina, on 
Combahee, Ashley and Cooper rivers, and some fine rice lands also in Georgia, 
on the Savannah river, and on the Little and Bior Ogechee, near Savannah. 
Rice planting is a good business, and will pay well if rightly managed. It 
requires skillful management and close attention to business to succeed well 
with a rice crop ; to know how and at the right time to flow, and to take off" 
the water. The ditches, canals and trunks must all be in complete order, 
and kept so. I have known two and three days' neglect to ruin a large rice 
crop. There is no crop that requires more attention to be given than rice, 
and particularly golden rice, that has to be flowed with water. A man must 
have energy, industry, and be at his business all the time, or have a man 
in his place when he is absent, day and night. In slavery time the planters 
had black drivers to keep the hands at work, and white sub-overseers, and a 
practical rice planter to come every two or three days to give instructions. 
It is a very diflScult crop to manage, and, if neglected, will fail. I have 
given all directions necessary for preparing the lands, and cultivating and 
harvesting low land golden tide swamp South Carolina rice. 



CULTIVATION OP UPLAND RICE. 

The land shouJd be well prepared by deep plowing, and all stumps and 
roots being removed. It should be plowed and laid oflT with a scooter, 
eighteen inches between rows, and be left very thick in the drill. Plant any 
time during the month of April, about two inches deep, and cover level with 
the surface. The white rice is always planted on upland, but on low, pondy 
lands, any kind will do better than on very dry lands. Low lands are culti- 
vated altogether with the hoe, but on high lands the plow should be used, 
and all grass taken out with the hoe. The dirt should be lightly thrown up 
on both sides. Two bushels should be planted to the acre, and on fine land 
it will produce from forty to fifty bushels. Watch very closely when coming 
up, in order to keep the birds from pulling it up. Soot and coal tar is often 
a preventative, when mixed vvith the rice. 

The low lands produce rice so much better than the uplands, it is gener- 
ally thought by the farnier cheaper to buy than to cultivate it. But I think 
every farmer will fiud it profitable to plant at least as much as he can 
consume. 



26 



THE CULTIVATION OP SUGAR CANE. 

There are several kinds of Cane, called Ribbon Cane, Green Cane and 
Blue Cano. Siigjar Cane is a profitable crop where the season is lung and 
hot; a »li2:lit frost injuring it materially. In Louisiana it is the principal 
crop. It is cnltivatcd to some extent in most of the Cotton States, as far 
North as Edgecomh county, North Carolina. It is extensively cultivated on 
both sides the Mississippi, as far as the mouth of the Red river. The longer 
the season the better. The land should be very rich. For small patches, 
cow-pen land is the best. It can be successfully raised on poor land by pen- 
ning cattle on the land, or fertilizing with cotton seed. This is much better 
than stable manure, making the stalk more juicy and the juice sweeter. The 
cane is less apt to fire. Most of the Georgia planters use cotton seed. 

The Ribbon and Blue Cane are hardest, and keep be.st during the winter. 
The Green Cane is softer and yields most juice. The land must be broken 
deep in the winter season and the cane planted early, as it takes it a long 
time to come up. A few days before planting bed it up as you would for 
cotton, only, if po.ssible, making the beds higher. Have your rows from 
five to six feet wide; it requires good distance for the air to pass through. 
Cultivate sugar cane precisely as you would wide drilled corn ; and when it 
is to be hoed, just draw up the dirt lightly on both sides of the row in the 
first and second hoeing. The third hoeing, just flat weed and cut out and 
pull up the grass and weeds. The crop should be plowed often — four times, 
if possible ; with scooters the first time. Split out deep with turn plow. 
This will leave the sugar cane deep in the ground. It should be planted 
deep, in a deep water furrow, putting the cotton seed on top. Be sure and 
have the cotton seed well rolled, for fear the seed will heat the cane and 
prevent it from coming up. After the second plowing, plow with Dixon 
sweep twenty-two inches. After it has been planted long enough to come 
up, just before, scrape ofl^ the top crust; this will kill the first crop of grass 
and weeds, and the cane will come up much better and more regularly. 

In Louisiana the cane is never planted but once every two years ; it is cut 
down level with the ground, leaving the roots to spring up in the ensuing 
spring. The roots are covered sufladently to protect them from frost. It 
would be a great deal of trouble to plant cane extensively every year. There 
they have the rows from six to seven feet wide, and very thick in the drill. 
When they plant they lay the stalks down in the water furrow and cover 
with two small scooter furrows. Just before it is time for the cane to make 
its appearance on top of the ground, they weed off" the top, and this brings 
on the cane ahead of the grass and weeds. The crop is easy to cultivate 
but diflnoult to gather. When the crop is gathered the Louisiana planters 
have a sugar boiling, in the months of November and December. Then the 
hands must work by day and night to grind and boil the cane. It is hard, 
confining and very" disagreeable work. Some planters employ two sets of 
hands — one to work by day and one at night. Others have two sets — one 
to cut the cane, and the other for teamsters. 

I visited Col. Minor's sugar mill in 1848. It cost twenty thou.sand dol- 
lars; a very exten.'sive house — sugar and syrup — both manufactured by steam. 
There was a large house where the mill was stationed, some twenty-five feet 



27 

from the ground ; a large shed, where the caue was hauled and thrown ou 
revolving caue carriers, to carry up stairs. Then the caue fell into two large 
boilers, as large as a Hour barrel, and about as long. The caue was mashed 
so flat that it burned like dry wood. There were gutters that carried otF the 
juice to the boilers, running like a small branch. In another shed there 
were large cisterns to hold molasses and syrup. 

I traveled through Louisiana from Donaldsonville to Tibidville, and down 
as low as Bio Black, and saw the richest sugar lands and the deepest soil I 
have ever seen. The soil was from three to four feet deep, and as black as 
tar. I saw some sugar cane so large that a horse mill could not grind it to 
any advantage. The low lands in Louisiana arc the best rice lands I have 
ever seen. Nature has done as much, if not more, for Louisiana than any 
State in the Union. It seemed to be laid off in rows and ditched by nature. 
The inhabitants, principally French Creoles, have tasteful cottages; and 
about the middle of October, before the planters commence cutting cane, 
there is no prettier sight in the world than a view from the deck of a river 
steamer. The snow-flecked cottages, the emerald greenness of the cane, and 
the white-washed negro quarters looking like little villages, are picturesque 
beyond description. 

The I'iver is in many places higher than the plantations, but the water is 
dammed back by levees. Like all rich cotton and sugar States, it is not at 
all healthful in summer, but a most delightful winter residence, and the 
planters can go down on the salts or to the Balize, or North, or to Virginia, 
when the sickly season commences. The country is subject to yellow fever 
and cholera, and many epidemics. 

During the war a kind of cane called sorghum or Chinese sugar cane was 
extensively introduced in the South. It was like rmy substitute, inferior, but 
made very palatable syrup. Iron mills were scarce, and wooden mills were 
used to some extent. It was necessary to clarify it with soda, and it had to 
be boiled as thick as candy, or it would sour. It was a great trouble, and 
with all this pains-taking considered by many to be very unhealthy. The 
planters soon abandoned its cultivation, and now there is not enough of any 
kind raised for home consumption, except along the Mississippi. But I con- 
sider it good economy for every man to have a patch large enough to make 
both sugar and syrup for his own family. In the first place, it is a crop very 
easily raised ; in the second, it is a crop that pays. Any surplus will com- 
mand ready money. In the third, and no mean consideration, to one who 
is initiated in the mysteries of sugar boiling, it is cleaner, purer and richer. 
Last, but not least, it enables the planter to invest his cotton money in more 
profitable outlay. Every planter should depend on his own resources, raise 
plenty of meat, plenty of corn, plenty of everything to eat, and then let the 
prices go up or down — the world wag on as it will — he can ensconce himself 
under his own vine and fig tree and pop his fingers at the times. 

Seed cane should be dug up bv the roots after the first light killing frost. 
Level the ground where you wish to bed the cane. Lay the canes regularly 
in the rows ; lay the roots and then the tops in reverse order alternately, so 
as to keep the bed level and one uniform height, until about three feet high. 
If the bed is made too high it will not keep so sound ; it will undergo a 
sweat, and when the seasons are changeable it will be more apt to rot. The 
heap should be covered shallow, to let the moisture in the sweating process 
escape — two inches deep of the dry blades and about three of the soil. 
Smooth the earth down and leave the top rounding, so that the rain may run 



28 

off. When the weather becomes very c©ld, cover sutficiently deep to keep 
th<^ frosts from penetrating to the cane. In warm spells examine the cane ; 
should they be found sprouting, take off some of the cover to prevent the 
mass from heating. In small patches it is best to plant the cane each year, 
where the land has to be fertilized; and this should be done every year, 
when the land is poor, for the sugar cane is a very exhausting crop. By 
planting every year afresh, the land can be better prepared and the manure 
better applied. Unless the soil is very rich, the roots of last year's crop 
left in the ground for seed will not produce more than half a crop. In the 
latitude of Burke county cane should be planted in the first warm weather 
in February. Low, wet, rich lands suit this crop best. 



W H E A T . 



The following hints on the cultivation of this grain are from the pen of 
Hon. N. S., of Jefferson county, Ga., who is a very successful wheat grower, 
and has prepared them at ray request: 

"The first thing to be observed, if you expect to be successful in growing 
fine wheat, is to procure good seed. Before .sowing sieve out all the small 
grains and soak the seed in a solution of blue stone for twelve hours, allow- 
ing one pound of blue stone to five bushels of wheat. If the land to be sown 
is stubble, turn over with turning plow in August, and by the dark nights in 
October it will be in good condition to receive the seed. Lay off in 'lands' 
seven feet wide, and sow a half bushel or three pecks to the acre. If the 
soil is very strong, one bushel will not be too much. Turn under with turn- 
ing plow three or four inches deep. If the land has been in corn and peas, 
it will not be necessary to break it up previous to sowing, as it will have 
been plowed during the summer. If it is low and wet, the water furrows 
shoul d be made very deep, in order to drain the water from the beds in wet 
seasons. After the wheat is plowed in, run a harrow or brush over the land, 
so as to leave it as level as possible. Good wheat may be made when sown 
a,s late as the dark nights in November. If the land is fertilized, that date 
will be sufficiently early. 

"The foregoing directions are the results of thirty-eight years' experience, 
as I have been growing wheat for that length of time, and hare never, during 
that period, made a single failure." 



29 



CULTIVATION OF OATS. 

The land should be prepared the same as for wheat, and Fall Oats should 
be sown about the same time. If not affected by the frosts of winter, the 
oats will be much better than when sown in the spring. Black oats are used 
more for fall than the white oat, because they will stand the cold weather 
better, and the grains being larger, will weigh more to the bushel. They 
should be plowed from two and a half to three inches deep, and half a bushel 
sown to the acre on common lands. On very rich bottom lands, three pecks 
should be sown. 

The white oats should be plowed in during January or February, and as 
near ponds and swamps as possible. Wet lands suit them much the best, 
and there is very little profit from sowing them on high and poor lands. 
After procuring a good seed oat, they should be improved every year by 
selecting the largest, earliest and best matured stalk. Seed from the North- 
western States produce much better in the Southern States than those raised 
here. There is some risk, however, about procuring sound seed. 

This is a very valuable crop for stock. Horses will fatten faster, do more 
service, and be less liable to disease when fed on corn and oats, than when 
fed on corn alone. The cultivation of small grain has been very much 
neglected in the South, the attention of the planter having been almost 
exclusively monopolized by the cotton crop. A change in this policy will, 
I think, be beneficial to Southern agriculture. 



CULTIVATION OF RYE. 

. This crop is one of great importance to the farmers of the South, and 
one which has received very little attention. Fields that have long been 
thrown away will often produce fine crops of rye. High, dry, sandy lands, 
that are scarcely fit for cultivation, will make fine pastures for stock of all 
kinds when sown in the proper time. It should be turned under from two 
to three inches deep, in September or October, for early spring pasture, and 
in February or March for summer grazing. 

The seed of Rye is seldom saved in the South, but when saved should be 
sown on red lands. From one peck to half a bushel should be sown ; the 
better the land the more needs to be sown. When sown for seed, stock 
should never be turned on it. In North Carolina corn is gathered early in 
September, and rye turned under. As soon as high enough stock is turned 
upon it ; and after being eaten off, it will come out and make a fine pasture 
for spring. When sown early it takes root, and cannot be affected by the 
freezes so easily as when sown late. Rye and wheat, after being cut, should 
always be turned under, as it will improve the land very much. Farmers of 
the South should all pay more attention to small grain, in order to save corn 
and raise meat. 



30 



BARLEY. 



Sow Barley in the dark nights in February for seed. For winter and 
spring pastures, sow in the dark nights in August and September. Barley 
is a very early crop, and will mature on good land in twelve weeks. The 
four corner kind is very prolific ; the double Barley the surest crop. It is 
thought by a great many planters to pay better for winter and spring pastures 
than Rye. Plow the grain in three inches deep. Barley is a very disagree- 
able crop to gather ; but planters in the Southern States generally depend 
upon the Northwestern States for seed. Malt liquors are made from this 
grain. It is a good substitute for coffee. It will yield more than Rye to 
the acre. Both Barley and Rye are so difficult to gather that most planters 
in the Southern States have abandoned their culture, except for winter and 
spring pastures. 



BUCKWHEAT. 

Sow Buckwheat in February, or even as early as January ; it will mature 
in June. Or it can be sown the last of June on wheat land, after the wheat 
has been cut, and will mature by the 1st of October. On good land it will 
produce from fifteen to twenty bushels per acre. The Buckwheat flowers 
are fine for bees. Sow near the bee gums. It may be sown two or three 
times during the year. It will pay well to sow exclusively for the benefit of 
bees. The whitest and sweetest honey I ever saw or ate was in Kentucky, 
made chiefly from Buckwheat flowers. 



FIELD PEAS. 



This crop, though generally planted with corn, will do best alone. Like 
most other crops, they require good distance, particularly on good soil. 
Peas are generally planted too late in the South. Corn should be planted 
early, and then the peas can be put in sufficiently early without interfering 
with the cultivation of the corn. 

When peas are planted as a separate crop, the rows should be four feet 
apart, and about a dozen peas should be dropped in hills three feet apart. 

The Java and Goat Pea are both very early in maturing. Two crops of 
the former can be made in a single season. It will produce finely upon poor 



31 

land, but is very easily injured by wet seasons, and should be gathered as 
soon as matured. The Goat Pea will ripen as early as the Java, but the 
latter is preferable, as it produces a large yield. 

The red and yellow Cow Pea remains sound, even when exposed for a 
long time to cold, wet seasons. 

The White Sugar Crowdcr is a fine table pea, but must have good soil. 
The Lady Finger and Blue Hull Peas are nice for table use. When planted 
with corn, peas should be dropped between the hills, so that they may be 
hoed when the corn is hilled up. 

The Cow Pea is best to sow for hay. as it produces more vine than the 
earlier vjirieties. The Miller Pea is very prolific and will not decay for 
several months wlien left in the field, hut is very small. The Goose Pea 
matures very early, and is nice for the table. The Cow Pi'a is considered 
tlie liest fitl'l pea. 

Peas sliould not he planted ulien the .s«>il is very dry. ;is th>\v will be very 
apt to die before coming up. Tlii'y are very fine for stuck, but arc traiMe- 
some to gather. It is hest to let the stock eat them in the field, after 
gatherino- a sufficient quantity for seed and for feeding to milch cows through 
the winter. Seed Peas should he picked from those first matured in good 
soil. They can, in this way, he very much improved. When peas are 
planted with corn, the vines should never be pulled up, as it injures the 
land. They should remain in the field to he turned under with the corn 
stalks to supply vegetable matter to the soil. Planters in the older Southern 
States should keep but few cattle and sheep if they expect to winter them 
in the corn and cotton fields. They eat the shucks, pea vines, corn and cot- 
ton stalks, and the unmatured bolls, all of which should be returned to the 
soil or it will soon be exhausted. Stock should not be allowed to run in 
cotton fields, as they will deposit grass-seed.e, and thus render the succeed- 
ing crop more difficult to cultivate. The stalks should be beaten or chopped 
down m December, or early in January, so as to be turned under when the 
land is broken up. The writer pun ued this plan for a number of years on 
a plantation in Burke County, Ga., turning under all the corn and cotton 
stalks, pea vine.s, etc., and by this means improved land without any other 
fertilizers. By adding to this the cotton seed, stable manure and the com- 
mercial fertilizers, the sc il may be improved very rapidly. Where only a 
few cattle are kept and they are well fed, the manure may not be as much 
in quantity, but will be much richer than that produced by half-fed .stock. 
Two n ilch cows, well kept, will yield more milk than a half dozen that are 
left to pasture on the corn and cotton fields during the winter. Of course 
these remarks do not apply where stock have the advantages of swamps and 
cane brakes, or where rye pastures are provided for them. 



32 



GROUND PEAS. 

There are two kinds of Ground Peas, the single and double. The latter 
is considered the better of the two. Light, sandy lands are best for this 
crop. The land should be bedded, as for cotton, early in the Spring, the 
ridges being made about two and a half feet wide. About the first of 
March, open the bed with a scooter furrow, and drop the peas two in a hill, 
fifteen inches apart, covering with the foot or a weeding hoe. They should 
be covered very lightly. If moles are troublesome in land intended for 
ground peas, they should be planted very early, leaving the shell or hull on 
them. They will require two or three weeks longer to germinate than when 
they are shelled before planting. At the first plowing, bar the beds with a 
very shallow furrow, and soon afterwards, hoe thera, drawing the soil slightly 
to the hills. At second plowing, run a large steel buzzard in the centre of 
the middles, afterwards hoeing them. Lay them by with same cultivation 
as directed for second plowing. At the first hoeing they should be thinned 
to one plant in a hill. Ground Peas should be planted near the dwelling, 
so as to prevent, as much as possible, the depredations of crows, as they are 
generally very annoying. They are excellent food for hogs, and will make 
them fatten very rapidly. 



CHUFAS. 



A light, mellow soil is most suitable for this crop. The preparation of 
the land and the cultivation does not differ from that of ground peas, ex- 
cept as to the number of plants left in the hills. Three or four of the nuts 
should be planted in each hill, and should, at the first hoeing, be thinned to 
two stalks. 

Birds are generally very troublesome in a field of Chufas, and, on this 
account, tliey, like grounrl peas, should be plmited near the dwelling. The 
writer planted a crop of ( linfas on his plantation in Burke Ci>unty, Ga., in 
186"2, having procured the seed frf m Mr. J. V. Jones, of that county. The 
land planted was very poor, and the crop received but one plowing and hoe- 
ing, but made a very fine yield. The birds, however, were so destructive 
that he ahandoned its cultivation, as most other planters in that section have 
done for the same reason. The blade of the Cluifa is very similar in ap- 
pearance to nut-grass, though the nuts are very ilifferent. Some planters 
have been apprehensive that, like the latter plant, the Cluifa would be iliffi 
cult to eradicate, but their fears were entirely groundless, as the plant will 
disappear entirely in two or three years, if the seed are not preserved. The 
nuts are of a reddish color, and are rather sweet. Hogs are very fond of 
them. Those intended for seed should be dried, sacked and hung up. 
Break upland that has been lying out (broom sedge fields), in November or 
December ; bed up the land the Ist of March, in the latitude of Burke County, 
Ga.; one farrow in each row, with twenty-two inch Dixon sweep, and one 



33 



hoeing; will be sufficient on good land to make a good crop of ( 'biifas. It 
will pay to plant them for hogs. No crop will pay better. They are more 
profitable, for this purpose, than ground-peas, being more certain and re- 
quiring less labor to cultivate them. 



SWEET POTATOES. 

Light, mellow, sandy soils are most suitable for this crop. They succeed 
best in the extreme Southern States, where killing frosts seldom occur. If 
the land intended for Potatoes is very poor, it should be well littered with 
straw or leaves, and should then have cattle penned upon it for some time. 
After the litter has been well trodden, the land should be broken up with 
turn plows. The cattle should not be allowed to enrich the soil too highly, 
as the vines will grow too luxuriantly, and will not bear so well. 

The first plowing or breaking up should take place about the first of De- 
cember. About the middle of January the land should be broken again 
with scooters, and the first of February should be harrowed level. It should 
then be laid off with scooters in rows four feet apart, on which a bed of two 
furrows should be formed and allowed to remain until planting time. 

The Spanish, Red and Poplar Root Potato should be planted the first of 
March. They should be cut and two or three pieces dropped in hills fifteen 
inches apart, covering them deep. A short time before the sprouts make 
their appearance, weed oft" the tops of the ridges, cutting up ail grass and 
weeds. This will enable them to come out earlier, and will leave them in 
better plight for plowing. As soon as they are up, run around them with 
scooters and split out middles with shovels or small buzzards, running only 
deep enough to destroy grass and weeds. Then hoe them, drawing some 
dirt to them. At the second plowing run the bar of the turn plow next the 
ridge, letting the middles remain until third plowing. Iloe them again, and 
when they need plowing again, run next to them (after a good rain) with the 
wing of a turn plow, splitting out the middles and leaving a good flat ridge, 
so as to absorb as much of the rain that falls as possible. At the fourth 
plowing, split out the middles at three furrows, with large steel buzzards, 
and "lay by" by hilling them with the hoe. 

Yam Potatoes should be bedded about the first of March in the garden, 
».nd, under ordinary circumstances, will, when thus bedded, furnish "drawers" 
^or planting by the last of April. To form the bed, the ground should be 
leveled and one inch of strong stable manure spread over it. The Potatoes 
^'hould then be laid on the manure, being arranged so as not to touch each 
other. Then cover them with two inches of well rotted stable manure, and 
finish with five inches of soil. The bed should be three feet wide, and pro- 
portional in length to the ground intended for planting. It should have an 
eastern exposure, so as to get the benefit of the morning's sun. The draws 
will come up much sooner, will be stronger, and have better roots. The bed 
5 



34 

should he smootlied with the back of the hoe to make it form, to enable it 
to retain moisture, and to prevent the cold from penetrating to the Potatoes. 
If tliere shouM be very cold, freezino; weather in March, tlie beds should be 
protected with pine straw, which should be laid aside as soon as it grows 
warm again. A short time before the sprouts should make their appearance, 
about an inch of soil should be scrapetl from the top of the bed. If they 
do not come out in five or six days, rake over the bed half inch deep. If 
the bed should become very dry and the manure very hot, water until it 
becomes thoroughly saturated. After the sprouts appear, pick out all grass 
and weeds once a week ; nd sift in mellow soil among the plants. When the 
sprouts are large enough to be transplanted, open the ridges with a small 
scooter, and set the ''draws" liftccii inches apart, and as deep as they were 
in the bed. Form a bed to them as they are worked, and they will stand a 
drought better. If they are manured in the drill, tlie p-cooter furrow will 
mix the manure in the soil, and thus render it more available to the roots of 
the plants. If the manure is not thus mixed, it will remain dry throughout 
the season, and of very little benefit to the Potatoes. This will be the case 
more particularly when the manure is not well rotted. 

In liedding land for Potatoes, the rows should be laid oil" with nine inch 
scooters, followed in the «ame furrow by a shovel running very deep. The 
manure should then be put in wet and covered with two nine inch scooter 
furrows. This should bo done about the first of February, and the beds 
should then remain undisturbed until the draws are ready to be set out, at 
which time two shallow furrows should be thrown to the ridge with a turn 
plow and th'.-. sni-face of the beds weeded off. Some planters prefer half 
rotted maivire for Potatoes, but I would have it thoroughly rotted for any 
crop. This crop may be made to mature very early by forwarding the 
"draws" in a hot bed. Prepare the bed the first of January, and let the sash 
remain on it for three weeks; then let it remain open until the first of Feb- 
ruarv, when the Potatoes should be bedded. The draws will then, under 
favorable circumstances, be ready for transplanting by the tenth or fifteenth 
of April. Another drawing may be had two weeks later, and the missing 
hills in the first planting may be replanted. After a sufficient number of 
"draws" have been taken, the Potatoes may be dug up and fed to hogs. 

In this, as in every other crop, care must be taken in the preservation of 
pure seed. As soon as the vines from the first draws set out have grown two 
feet, they should be cut off four inches from the ground, and set in fertile 
and well prepared land for raising seed. When dug, the largest should be 
selected and placed in a separate hill for this purpose. By pursuing this 
plan every year the seed may be prevented from degenerating. If small 
Potatoes raised from draws are used for seed, they will soon adulterate. I 
think they may be improved by being changed from one locality to another, 
or from pine land to oak and hickory, and the reverse. Other crops have 
been improved in this way, and I see no reason why Potatoes should not. 

The finest crop of Potatoes I have ever raised were planted in hills three 
and a half feet each way. A half gallon of manure was placed in each check 
after breaking well and laying off each way the distance above mentioned. 
Good, flat hills were then made, and Spanish Potatoes planted deep in each. 
After the hills became foul, two or three inches of soil were scraped off, and 
after the plants were up they were weeded again. Two plowings with a 
shovel and a hilling with the hoe finished the cultivation. The hilled system 
was practiced very extensively some years ago, but has been almost aban- 



35 

doned. E'er small crops, I think it h very good mode of cultiiie. Oak and 
hickory soils produce Potatoes well, if the lands are fresh and not too low 
nor too stiff. Pipe clay lands, and those inclined to run together after rains, 
are not suitable for this crop. 

, The yield may sometimes be increased by cutting the vines in August or 
September, when they are growing too luxuriantly. They should not be 
shortened to less than two feet of the hill. Care should be taken that the 
roots are not loosened in the operation. When the vines are too long for 
the plow to pass between the v^ws, they should be made from alternate 
middles, which should be plowed out and the vines then moved into these 
from the remaining middles. After these are plowed, the vines should be 
returned to their original positions, as it is best, in my judgment, for them to 
remain as they grew naturally. 

The Yam Potato is grown more extensively in the South than any other 
variety. They grow quite large, if well cultivated in good soil, and bear 
shipping better than most other kinds. During very wet seasons Potatoes 
do not bear well, as most of the nutriment from the earth is taken up by the 
vine. The vines sometimes take root in the middles and diminish the yield 
in that way. These may be loosened, and if the crop is not ''laid by" a 
portion of the vine may be taken off and fed to stock. 

Potatoes do best when set oat very early in the season, as they are less 
apt to live when transplanted late, and they cannot then thoroughly mature. 
When vines are transplanted for seed, they should be set out in a water 
furrow late in the afternoon in very wet seasons. No draws or vines should 
be set out after the middle of June, as the crop will not compen.sate for the 
expense of cultivation. Planting too late is a general fault among Southern 
farmers in regard to nearly all crops cultivated by them. The balks should 
be split out after transplanting the draws, in order to enable the ridges to 
retain sufficient moisture. If the soil is sandy nnd porous, the crop may be 
cultivated entirely with the buzzard plow. The culture with plow and hoe 
should be very shallow, and at the last working a bed should be made with 
turn plow, finishing the last furrow with buzzard. The vines should not be 
covered. 

The Bunch or Peruvian Potato does well on poor land, and is good for 
stock. This variety, the Poplar Root, Spanish, and both species of the Red 
Potato, do best planted. The White and Yellow Yam thrive better when 
bedded and transplanted. The Buck, a yellow variety, will do well either 
way. It grows large, matures early, and is suitable for the table or for stock. 
This crop is cultivated very extensively in the South, and large quantities are 
shipped to the Northern States. 

The following article has been furnished by Mr. George Th. Cogel, of Rich- 
mond county, Ga.: 

ON THE BEST METHOD OF SAVING SWEET POTATOES. 

"Theyshould be dug immediately after the first killing frost. All Pota- 
toes dug in the morning should be picked up in the afternoon, commencing 
at two o'clock, and banked. Care should be taken not to bruise them. The 
cut roots should be kept separate from the sound. The larger potatoes 
should be separated from the smaller, in the field, by picking up the larger 
first. Potatoes should never be dug when it is very cold or raining. The 
beds where they are to be laid should be made on high, elevated land. The 
earth should be dug twenty inches deep, three or four days before the 



36 

Potaluc.v nv*' to be stored, tu enable them to become thoroughly dry. Just 
betbie depositing the Potatoes, cover the bottom of the beds three inches 
deep with pine straw. After the l^otatoes are bedded, cover the sides and 
top of the heap three inches deep with pine straw ; then lay corn stalks 
three inches deep over the pine straw, filling in all interstices; then cover 
t\ve inches deep with soil. Be sure to leave a hole at the top to give the 
Potaioes air, and to allow the moisture to escape. This is best done by set- 
tiny up a pole in the centre of the heap, like a fodder stack pole; and when 
the hill is finished, as above directed, draw tmt the pole, which will leave a 
sufficient air hole and vent for the moisture in the sweating process. Lay 
two poles on the top of the hill and on each side of this hole, about three 
feet long and about three feet aj)art. Lay boards across these so as to make 
a cover or cap over the top of the Potato hill, and preventing the rain from 
eintering the hole. Lay straw over all. 

*'Be certain to leave the hole open beneath this cover of boards and straw. 
The earth thrown up on the sides oi' the Potato hill should be well beaten 
down by the back of a spade, so that the rain will run otf readily instead of 
soaking in. From twenty to twenty-five bushels are sufficient for each hill. 
The Potatoes will keep better by this method than they would even in a 
Potato house or cellar. I use a small Potato house, into which I put the 
inferior Potatoes, when I take down a Potato bill, at intervals, to take them 
to market. They are kept there onlv a short time, and, when consumed, 
another hill is opened. 

"1 have preserved Potatoes by the above method sound until the ne.xt 
crop was made. 1 have had fifty years experience in the culture of Sweet 
Potatoes, and have tried various methods of preserving them. I have 
resided fifteen miles from Augusta, where the lands are high and dry, and 
also in Middle <ieorgia, where they are very low. But, after all my expe- 
rience, pronounce the method given above surest, cheapest, and best for the 
preservation of Sweet Potatoes. A smooth surface should be selected on 
which to bank Potatoes. I can in no wav add to Mr. Godley's chapter on 
the preparation of the soil and culture of the Potato. I only give my expe- 
rience in keeping them sound after being dug. 

"GEORGE TH. COGEL." 



87 



WATERMELONS. 

Oak and hickory lands, with clay foundation, are most suitable for this 
crop. Low, damp soils should be avoided. Land that has lain out is to 
be preferred, as it will produce finer melons on that account. It should be 
broken up and harrowed in December, and again broken up deep with turn 
plows about the first of February. The rows should then be layed off, fifteen 
feet each way, and holes should be dug- ten inches deep in each check. Two 
shovelsful of strong stable manure should then be put in each hole and 
leveled. Then fill in with earth, taking care to mix no yellow sand with it 
until a hill is formed four inches above the surface. The manure should be 
put in at least a month before planting, in order to allow the soil to settle 
and the manure to mix with it. Just before planting time weed off the hills, 
leaving them about two inches above the surface ; make a small ring with 
the finger around the centre of each hill, and plant within it five seed. If 
the plants do not make their appearance within a reasonable length of time, 
plant the same number of seed just outside of the ring. If these are not up 
in twelve days, re-plant again inside of the ring. 

It is sometimes very difficult to obtain a stand of melons, on account of 
mice and moles, which are very destructive to most of the crops in the 
Southern States, and especially to this one. In 1867 I used coal tar and 
soot on the melon seed before planting, and they were not disturbed by mice 
or moles, although they had previously annoyed me very ranch. One of ray 
neighbors, whose first planting had been ruined by these pests, used the 
coal tar and soot and succeeded in getting a fine stand. Some planters have 
been apprehensive that the tar and soot would destroy the vitality of the 
seed, but I think without grounds. 

It is held by some that the quality of the land has very little to do with 
the result in the cultivation of melons, provided the hills are well manured, 
but I think this a mistake. In order to pi'oduce tine melons, the soil 
should be naturally fertile, and the hills should receive a liberal allowance 
of matmre. The latter should be put in very deep, as the main tap root of 
the plant grows to the depth of ten or twelve inches below the surface, and 
the lateral roots branch out very thickly in every direction from it, extend- 
ing more than two feet, as I have proven by actual experiment. I raised a 
very fine crop of melons on the plantation of Mr. E. A. Allen, in Burke 
(younty, Ga., by having the holes dug ten or twelve inches deep with a 
spade and putting a half bushel of manure to each hill. They were of the 
variety called the " Lawson Green Rind," and weighed from thirty to fifty- 
seven pounds. I also raised fine crops of this fruit on the plantation of A. 
J. Lawson, in the same county, having sold a good many in Waynesboro, 
after furnishing all of the hands on the place with them. The varieties 
planted were the " Lawson Green Rind " and the " Honey Dew Extra." The 
former was a species improved by Mr. A. J. Lawson, and took its name from 
him. It became very popular with the planters in that section, and the 
seeds were disseminated through several States. 

I was very successful in cultivating melons on Skidaway Island for the 



38 

Savannah market, for several years ; and also on the plantation of C. F. 
Ficklin, in Crawford County, Ga.; and of R. T. Archer, in Carroll County, 
Miss. 

During the late war I raised fine melons on my plantation in Burke 
County, selling quite a number in Waynesboro and shipping some to Au- 
gusta. Since the war I have been living on a place in Richmond County, 
thirteen miles from Augusta, and raising fruit and provisions for that mar- 
ket. During the year 1867, my crop of melons netted me a considerable 
amount of money ; but in 1868 the seasons were rather unfavorable, and 1 
planted the round melons, which is not so saleable as other varieties, and my 
crop was not so profitable. I had a small patch planted on the 16th of 
June and manured with cotton seed, natural soil and ashes mixed, which 
produced a fine lot of melons, and if they had been the long melon, would 
have been a very profitable crop. The round melon is very apt to decay 
before maturing, and will crack open after ripening. 

Cow-penned land is best for melons, with good stable manure in the hills. 
Manure from cows is too cold for melons, as they require a heating manure 
to force them to grow oft" early. It will also cause them to decay before 
ripening, and will produce more vine than fruit. The manure should be put 
in sutficiently deep to allow the seed to be planted six or seven inches 
above it. After the soil settles, it will require but a very short time for the 
tap root to strike it. 

In cultivating melons for market, in the latitude of Augusta, Ga., I 
would advise only two plantings — the first of March and from the twentieth 
to the twenty-fifth of May. June patches seldom do well, being generally 
injured by wet weather, and by the time they are ready for market, the far- 
mer will have other produce to sell that will pay him a better per cent. 

I will now give my method of cultivating melons. As soon as the plants 
have two or three leaves, loosen the soil lightly around them with the fin- 
gers; replant the missing hills and pick out the grass and weeds by the 
roots. Five or six days afterwards plow out the middles deep with turn- 
plows, first running two shallow furrows next the rows and taking care not 
to disturb the hills with the plow. Hoe them over on the same day, clean- 
ing oti' all grass and weeds, and replacing only as much soil as is taken 
away by the hoe. Level oft" the soil around the hills to the distance of 
three feet for the vines to run over until the second working. The second 
and third working should be finished as early as possible, plowing very shal- 
low with large steel buzzards and not running too near the hills, particu- 
larly at the last plowing. The hoe hands should follow immediately after 
each plowing, replacing the vines very carefully in their original positions, 
and taking care that they are not bruised. Melons require considerable care 
and pains in their culture, and careless hands should not be allowed in the 
patch at all. They should not be worked when the soil is very wet; the 
dryer it is the better, especially on wet, siitf lands that are disposed to bake. 
Only one variety of seed should be planted in the same field, as they will 
mix and degenerate. 

Seed for planting should be selected from some of the finest and earliest 
melons, taking them from the centre of the fruit and drying them on a 
platform suspended so as to be out of reach of rats and mice. They should 
be placed in the shade and stirred every day until perfectly dry, when they 
should be sacked up and marked. Seed thus preserved will mature early, 
and can by this method be improved each year. The melons from which 



39 

they are selected should be allowed to mature thoroughly before bcincr pulled 
from the vine, and should have a firm, sweet pulp. All melons should be 
shaded with bark, or some other material, for fifteen days before ripenincr. 
Thev will be sweeter, more healthful and saleable, and will not mature too 
early. Very wet seasons, or very hot sunshine, will soon rnin them unless 
they are thus shaded. 

A convenient and eflTcctive method of preventinjOf the depredations of 
crows upon melon patches, is to place stakes around the field and encircle 
it with cotton yarn or cord, suspended from the upper ends of the stakes, 
and sheets of tin huiiy up, in each corner of the patrh, will keep crows out. 
Planters in the Sontliwcstern States are very caieful a!)out selecting and 
preserving seed for planting, much more so than those in the older States. 
Seed from this and all ether crops should be selected fn>m the first plants or 
fruit that matures. Judge Peniberton, of Burke County, (la., pursued this 
plan in regard to his cotton, and I remember that in 183() liis hands were 
picking one hundred pounds per day, during the first week in August, 
when his neighbors' cotton had scarcely begun to open. His corn crop 
also was, for the same reason, always very forward. I have always found it 
to be true of those farmers who were most careful about the selection of 
their seed, that their farms were more productive than when less attention 
was given to this subject. 

Late patches of melons require less manure than those planted earlier. 
The former should have fifteen feet distance between the hills, and the latter 
from ten to twelve feet, as the vines do not grow so long when planted late. 
A mixture of cotton seed, ashes and virgin soil make an excellent fertilizer 
for late melons. A pen should be made in March and filled three-fourths 
full of cotton seed and viigin soil, in proportion of one part of seed to two 
of soil. Fill up the pen with ashes and beat it down as if it were a coal 
kiln. Let it stand until two rains have fallen upon it, and then cover with 
short leaf, pine straw as a protection from rain and sun. Melons fertilized 
with this conipost will be very sweet, and will remain sound and good longer 
than where other manures are used. 

Whilst attending to business for A. J. Lawson, of Burke County. Ga., I 
planted two acres of oak and hickory land in melons, using a mixture of 
well rotted cotton seed, rich earth and strong stable manure. They were 
planted in hills twenty feet distant each wav, and a half bushel of the mix- 
ture was put in each hill and covered deep. The varieties planted were the 
Lawson Green Rind and the Honey Dew Extra. I never saw finer melons 
or a more prolific yield. Some of them were shipped to Charleston and 
were acknowledged to be the finest in the market. 

An excellent manure for melcns may be made bv using rich earth from 
the woods as a bedding in horse stables. When cleaned out it should be 
put up in pens and covered with short-leaf pine straw, as a prrtection from 
the sun and rain. The top of the pile should be cone-shaped so as to shed 
the rain. The manure should be put up in different pens after each clean- 
ing, and the stables refilled with the same material as before. A good 
many farmers in Richmond County, Ga., use this manure for melons, and 
generally supply the Augusta market with very fine fruit. Some of them 
use a gill of guano to the hill, covering it with a peck of rich earth. Lands 
in this county, that have a good clay foundation, produce fine melons, after 
an application of either of the above manures. The lands lying on the 
creeks through the country produce the finest melons, with a more proli- 



40 

fie yield, and the vines bear for a longer time than on other lands. This 
crop, like most others, will do best when planted alone. Some farmers 
plant peas or corn between the rows of melons, but I think it unadvisable 
to mix these crops. 

Musk melons and cantelopes should receive the same cultivation as water- 
melons, except as to the distance between the hill and the quantity of man- 
ure requisite for each hill. They require less manure and less distance than 
the latter fruit. No punipkins or gourds should be allowed to grow near 
where melons are planted. Care should be taken that the vines are not 
trampled upon and injured by any one in passing over the patch. No mel- 
ons should be broken in the field, and once a week the ill-shaped and par- 
tially decayed melons should he thrown to the hogs, so as to allow those 
that remain to mature perfectly. Dry summers are best for this crop, as it 
does not require a very large quantity of rain. 

Red or mulatto pine lands produce better melons than white sandy soil. 
They can be made to mature very early in the season by the following 
method of planting and cultivating: During the first warm weather in Jan- 
uary, prepare the ground by checking the proper distance, and putting one and 
a half pecks of manure to each hill. Prepare a sufficient number of boxes, eigh- 
teen inches square, with tops of glass to cover the hills. In the first warm spell 
in February, cut small trenches around each hill, five inches deep, and fill 
with cotton seed or cedar brush, the former being preferable. The object 
of this is to prevent the hills from freezing. The seed should then be 
planted. The boxes should be placed over the hills as soon as the hills are 
made, but should be taken oflf at every rain. The boxes and cotton seed 
should cover a space three feet square. As soon as the plants make their 
appearance, if it is good weather, the boxes should be removed, and should 
be replaced only when it is sufficiently cold to injure the plants. An early 
patch of this kind should slope towards the East, so as to catch the morn- 
ing's sun. The soil should be loosened around the plants soon after they 
come up. On warm days leave oif the boxes from 10 A. M. until 3 P. M. 
They should also be taken oft' whenever it rains, unless it is very cold. If 
it should turn very warm after the plants come up, and they should look un- 
healthy, remove the cotton seed from the trench ; and if the soil is very 
dry, pour rain water around the hills until they become saturated. Then 
fill the trench with cedar brwsh or pine straw, and in a few days, if the 
plants look healthy, remove the brush or straw and fill the trenches with soil. 
About the middle of March, if tie weather should be sufliciently warm, 
take off the bo;ces, and in four or five days, if the weather is suitable and 
the soil not too wet, plow and hoe over the patch. If it should turn cold 
after this, and in all windy weather, the boxes must be used. This method 
of cultivating early melons is employed by many gardeners in Mississippi, 
who exhibit considerable rivalry in their endeavors to furnish the markets 
with the first fruit of the season. It involves considerable trouble and 
some expense, but if the foregoing directions are fallowed faithfully, the 
result will fully repay the farraL-r or market gardener for his care and out- 
lay of time and means. 

In the Western and Northern States, where the seasons are three months 
and a half long, large sized watermelons may be made either in a free- 
stone or limestone country, by putting one bushel of freestone sand into 
each hill. Level it oft" at bottom and sprinkle one gill of Wilcox & Gibbs' 
Manipulated Guano over the sand. Then put two large shovelsfuU of well 



41 

rotted stable manure, cotton seed and virgin soil, well mixed. Dig the 
holes thirty inches square and deep. The Cuba is the earliest, the long 
stripe next. If boxes are procured with glass tops, as above described, 
Western and Northern planters can raise fine watermelons at home. 



GROWING WATERMELONS. 

BY JUDGE SMITH, OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, GEORGIA. 

"To be successful in growing watermelons the land should be broken 
deep early in January, and in the 1st of February it should be laid off fif- 
teen feet square ; then in each check a hole should be duo- three feet square 
and twelve inches deep. In this hole put in from one-half to a bushel of 
composted manure. Cotton seed and stable manure make the best com- 
post for this purpose ; also from the woods put in rich virgin soil, say about 
one bushel to the hill ; mix it well with the compost and make a hill three 
or four inches above the surface ; then plant with good seed from the mid- 
dle or centre of good melons. Cultivate them fast with a good sweep 
plow, shallow, not turning or touching the vines, and you will have good 
success in raising fine melons, if the seasons are favorable. If the season 
is very dry and you want to hurry your melons for market or family use, 
place in your patch hogsheads conveniently, put in the bottom of each 
about two bushels of corncobs; then fill up about half of the remaining 
space with strong stable manure, and the remainder of the hogshead with 
water. After it stands twelve hours, you can take your watering pots about 
sunset and sprinkle over the vines, or at the roots of them, and they will 
keep healthy and grow all the time. If you have any ill shaped melons on 
your vines, take them off and the balance will grow larger and be better. 
If grass or weeds should come up about the roots, take it out with your 
fingers, not touching or raising the vines, and you will certainly raise fine 
melons." N. S. 

In connection with the subject of watermelon culture, I would remaik 
that I have found the best soil and culture for watermelons a first year's 
new ground, prepared as follows : Grub up all the small growth and cut 
down the large trees as even with the surface as possible; then scooter the 
land both ways in December ; break up in January with steel turn plows, 
and harrow level ; by this means the vines will bear longer, melons will be 
larger and more prolific ; and the land from this careful preparation will be 
more easily cultivated. 



A GOOD FERTILIZER FOR MELONS. 

Make a rail pen in January, with a plank floor at bottom. First put in 
three horse cart loads of well rotted horse manure. Having leveled it oil, 
scatter evenly over it three bushels of cotton seed and level it oft'; then put 
one cart load of rich virgin soil from the woods; then level it oflf; then 
three bushels of cotton seed and level it off"; three bushels of stable manure 
and cotton seed ; then virgin soil, and so on in rotation, till about seven feet 
6 



42 

high. When thoroughly wet, either by hand or from rains, cover the com- 
post with fine straw, to protect it from the sun and winds. 

This fertilizer may be thus used : Having laid off the ground ten feet 
each way, dig at the crossings of the furrows fifteen inches square, twelve 
inches deep ; put one shovelfull of virgin soil from the woods into each hill ; 
level it off; then put one gill of Dixon's Compound ; scatter over and put 
in two shovelsfull of compost; level and make a sharp hill over all, two or 
three weeks before planting. The manure should be put in wet. 



KITCHEN GARDENS. 

The most suitable place is where the land lies fronting the east, so the sun 
can shine on the garden early in the morning. The land should be as level 
as possible. It must not be broken, so the soil and manure can wash away. 
It is a good plan to pen cattle on the land some eleven months previous to 
cultivating; breaking up the land and subsoiling it, hauling in leaves and 
straw three or four times duriog the year. Turning under the manure and 
rotten litter mixes it with the soil, and keeps the sun from evaporating the 
manure. Break up the ground finally about the 1st of December ; plow 
deep ; subsoil it ; harrow it level. Then let it lie till about the 10th of 
January ; then break it up, subsoil it, and let it lie till February ; then lay 
off the rows and bed them off — the rows about the same distance ""apart as 
Cotton, the beds high and water furrows deep. The manure must be put 
in deep, and planted at least a month before the seeds are sown. This gives 
it time to mix with the soil and the soil to settle ; the gardener can sow his 
seeds more regularly, and they will come up better. 

Some Vegetables require more fertilizing than others, and this must be 
put in the drills. For this purpose use strong, well rotted barn manure, and 
cover as put down with two scooter furrows ; then let it stand two or three 
weeks before planting. When it is time to put in the seed, weed ofi' the 
ridge that was made to cover the manure, and weed pretty deep, so as not 
to have the beds too high. Then secure pure, sound seed, and cover 
shallow. A gardener can make two or three crops on the same ground 
every year, but for at least nine months he should keep planting, transplant- 
ing every week during the spring and summer and fall. 

A garden should be made on oak and hickory land, with good clay 
foundations. Light, sandy, porous land may do for spring gardens, but the 
heat of summer will burn and dry them up. It is a good plan to haul clay 
on such foundations, but this is not as good as a natural clay foundation. 
Every garden should have a gate at least ten feet wide, to admit a cart with 
manure and litter. Vegetables must have plenty of room, as they will 
grow larger, and the large ones are not only more saleable, but better to eat. 
Give them plenty of room to be worked, and, if necessary, to be watered. 
Always water with rain or soft water. Near a city it will pay to have a 
garden engine, and a large cistern in the centre of the garden. 



43 

Give all Beet crops two and a half feet width in the rows, and thin out to 
four inches in the drill, leaving one or two of the most promising plants to 
grow. When you use them, pull out every other bunch. Mangold Wurtzel 
Beets are the largest, but raised principally for stock. The Long Blood and 
Turnip Beet are richer and better for the table. 

Carrots should be cultivated in the same manner as Beets. 

The Ruta Baga, Flat Dutch and Globe Turnips are best. Give all Turnip 
crops three feet distance, and thin out to six inches, leaving one or two till 
they are large enough to eat, and then thin out every other bunch and 
leaving one in a place, twelve inches apart. Draw up some dirt to them, 
and you will have fine, large Turnips. They are fine boiled for milch cows. 

Radishes should be planted two feet distance, and thinned out to three 
and four inches apart. 

Peppers should have two feet and a half distance, and be thinned to one 
and two stalks a foot apart. 

English Peas should have four feet distance, leaving them very thick in 
the drill, two and three inches apart, and one or two stalks in a place. Single 
rows do much the best. 

Plant Irish Potatoes the 1st of February, three feet distance and one foot 
apart. Plant them deep and manure on top. Make the water furrow deep. 
Just before it is time for them to come up, take oft' the top with weeding 
hoe. Soon as they are large enough to bear the dirt, plow them with a nine 
inch scooter. Plow deep and split the middles, and then hoe them. When 
ready to plow the second time, side with small turn plow and split out with 
small turn plow. Form a good bed to them, running four times in a row 
with a turn plow. Then draw up the dirt on both sides of the bed. Get 
the grass and weeds out clean by the roots. Make a round bed, pretty flat 
on top, so as to hold the water when it rains. Do the plowing and hoeing 
in a wet time, if possible. If pine straw is convenient, cover them two 
inches deep, and they will need no more working. 

Beans should have three feet in the rows and two in the drill, leaving two 
plants. It is a good plan to plant Beans that climb around the garden fence, 
as it will save the trouble of frames, and they are but little in the way. 

Cantelopes, Cucumbers and Squashes should be planted in hills three feet 
apart. 

Lettuce should have rows two feet apart, and thin out the plants to six 
inches in the drills. 

Onions and Leeks should have two feet in the rows and eight inches in the 
drill. Plant the seed annually in March, and they will mature by the last of 
August. Manure with guano or stable manure, mixed with wood ashes. 

Garden Corn. — Plant with rows three feet apart, two feet in the drill, 
leaving two stalks for use. Radishes can be planted in the midst of the 
Corn ; they will come on before the Corn matures. 

Okra should have rows four feet apart and two feet in the drill, leaving 
two plants in a place. Long green Okra is considered best. Plant the seed 
the 1st of April. 

Plant Tomatoes in a hot house in February, and transplant in March. 
They are very sensitive to cold. Set them out three feet apart, with frames 
three feet high. Frames protect them, make them bear better, and the fruit 
is less liable to decay. Twenty or thirty plants is sufficient for a small 
family. The large red and yellow are best. Raw or cooked, they are a 
healthful vegetable. 



44 

Two crops of all root vegetables can be made in a year. Tf the land is 
rich enough, plant the first crop in March and the other in June. 

Most planters sow Turnips too late and too thin. Sow them the middle 
of June, very thick, and chop them out as you would Cotton. It is a good 
plan, as so much seed is nearly worthless, to buy Turnip seed in time to 
test it by sowing a few before the main crop. 

Celery requires very rich ground. Set the plants very deep, and put rich 
earth around them as you work them. Celery requires a great deal of work 
and manure and water. The finest Celery I have ever seen was raised in 
Louisiana. 

Cabbages and Collards should have three feet distance in the rows and 
lialf a foot in the drill. As you wish them for cooking, pull out every other 
one. Sow them in the drill and thin as you would Cotton, and it saves the 
trouble of transplanting. Early Cabbages should be sown in a hot house. 

You can raise Vegetables six weeks earlier in a hot bed than in the open 
air. A hot house fifteen long and three feet wide is large enough for a good 
sized garden. Have moveable glass doors, so that they can be opened in 
warm and rainy weather. Place it in such a position that it will command 
the first rays of the morning sun. Dig out about eight inches of natural 
earth and replace with well rotted horse manure. Then cover with the native 
earth, and let it stand three or four weeks. Leave the doors open during 
this time for the soil to mix thoroughly. The cold rains and frost will 
benefit it. Close the doors four or five days before planting. If you use 
guano, the pure Peruvian is best. Bone dust at the bottom and horse ma- 
nure on top is good for root crops. Vines need but little fertilizing, and 
that put in very deep. 

A good kitchen garden is a source of comfort and economy, more depend- 
ing on the vegetables that garnish the table than the meats. There should, 
therefore, be such a rotation as to have vegetables always at command. It 
is much less trouble and care than is usually supposed by the uninitiated, 
and the pleasure of cultivation oft more than repays both. 



HERBS. 

Herbs should be planted in separate rows, on one side of the garden, and 
sliould be transplanted every two years, in order to increase their growth and 
vigor. There are quite a number of them, most of which are cultivated for 
their medicinal properties. I have given below the names and uses of thirty- 
five ditierent varieties. 

Sage, Potmarjoram and Thyme are used as a seasoning for sausages. A tea 
jnade of the first is found beneficial in some diseases. Rosemary is also 
made to serve the same purpose. 

A decoction of Rue is given to children as a vermifuge, and is also a good 
medicine for sheep. 



45 

Lavender and Isaaf make a good tea. Comfrey is sometimes used as a 
poultice for cuts and bruises, and when boiled in milk is given in attacks of 
hemorrhage from the lungs. 

Plantain coarsely pulverized, with the addition of salt and apple vinegar, 
is a good remedy for sprains. 

Elecampane, when made into tea, or boiled down thick and sweetened with 
syrup, is used for bad colds. 

Horse Radish gives a good flavor to pickles, and when put into whiskey 
is beneficial for inward diseases. 

The seed of Sweet Fennel, braised and steeped in Jamaica rum, make a 
good paregoric. 

Coriander seed are used to flavor custards and puddings. 

Privet and Alum make a good mouth wash. 

Chamomile and Hoarhound are fine tonics. The flowers of the former 
should be steeped in gin. Make a tea of the latter, or a candy by adding 
syrup. 

Feverfew and Wormwood are applied in poultices to swellings. 

Southern Wood is good to scatter bone felons. 

Penny Royal forms an ingredient in liver and blood puddings, and make 
a tea for ladies to drink. Boil the root and make a poultice ; it will scatter 
a rising on a lady's breast when every other remedy fails. 

Peppermint steeped in cold water is a remedy for nausea, and is beneficial 
in diseases of the bowels. 

Horsenaint is used for bathing children. Spearmint Tias the same prop- 
erties as Peppermint, but a more pungent taste. 

Balm makes a good tea. Catnip tea is excellent for children, and is very 
nourishing. 

Yellow Dock will cure the itch. 

Yarrow is used in poultices for boils and risings. 

Heal-all makes a good salve for old wounds. 

Tansy, double and single, is used as a tea for old persons. 

Hops make a good yeast. 

Balsam Apple is a i-emedy for colic, and has a good eflfect on fresh 
wounds. 

Saflfron is used to purify the blood. 

Sarsaparilla and Queen's Delight are also employed to cleanse the blood, 
and have attained quite an extensive reputation for their medicinal proper- 
ties. Large quantities of the extract have been sold in the South at exorbi- 
tant prices, when, by devoting a small portion of the garden to the cultivation 
of these Herbs, every family might procure an abundant supply, with little 
or no expense. Both of these herbs or shrubs seem adapted to the pine 
lands of Richmond county, Ga., as they grow there wild. The roots should 
be taken up in September and dried. 

The Sarsaparilla grows on hillsides and bottoms — has a red berry and dark 
leaf — resembles a shrub known as poison oak, except in the color of the 
berry. 

The Queen's Delight grows on elevated sandy I'idges, and has a long leaf. 



46 



SYRUP OF SARSAPARILLA and QUEEN'S DELIGHT COMPOUND. 

2 ounces of Queen's Delight root. 

8 ounces Sarsaparilla. 

4 ounces Guiac Wood. 

4 ounces Sassafras Root. 

^ ounce Senna leaves. 

4 ounces Liquorice Root. 

1^ gallons water. 

Boil the whole down to (5 pints. Strain and filter. 

Add ^ pint of alcohol. 

1 pint of simple syrup. 

Dose, tablespoonful three times per day — just before meals. 



Cultivation of Buncombe Large White Winter 

Cabbage. 

The almost uniform success which the author has met with in the culti- 
vation of Buncombe Cabbage, and the numerous inquiries made of him by 
others as to the method used, have induced him to devote an entire chapter 
to that subject. 

The most suitable soil for the growth of this species of cabbage, is toler- 
ably stiff" land, with clay foundation, made very rich by being cow-penned. It 
should be broken up deep in December with a turn plow, followed by a sub- 
soil or scooter plow in the same furrow ; after which it should be harrowed 
nicely in order to pulverize, level and mix the manure with the soil. It 
should then stand and take the winter freezes until about the tenth of Jan- 
uary, when it should be again broken up and harrowed as before ; after 
which it should remain until the first of April. Then break up with one- 
horse plow and harrow ; after which reverse the harrow and pass over the 
ground with the back of the harrow down in order to make the soil as firm 
and compact as possible. 

Breaking up the land in midwinter will enable it to retain moisture bet- 
ter, will destroy insects and worms and will insure a thorough mixing of the 
manure with the soil, while the winter freezes will mellow the soil and leave 
it in fine condition for the reception of the plants. If the land should 
become foul before the plants are ready, it may be flat weeded. 

The seed should be procured pure, from New York, Kentucky, or Bun- 
combe, North Carolina, every year, as they will otherwise become adulter- 
ated, and degenerate into the long Collards. They should be sown about 
the 10th of May, in the latitude of Burke county, Georgia, in a bed pre- 
pared for the purpose, in some portion of the garden where they will get the 



47 

benefit of the morning sun. The bed should not be made richer than th^ 
soil where the plants are to be set out, as they will be more apt to die, and 
will not grow off rapidly. A bed three feet wide and thirty feet long will 
furnish a sufficient number of plants for an acre of ground. A bush arbor 
four feet high should be made over the bed; then dig up the soil lightly 
with a hoe ; sow the seed tolerably thick and cover lightly. If the soil is 
made too porous and loose, a good many of the plants will die before trans- 
planting. 

If it should be windy or very hot weather for a few days after sowing, the 
bed should be moistened with rain water, or well water that has been exposed 
to the atmosphere for forty -eight hours. Discontinue the watering as soon 
as the seed commence coming up. In a few days pick out the grass and 
weeds, and loosen the soil between the plants with the fingers, or with a very 
small garden hoe. As soon as they have attained sufficient size for trans- 
planting, break up the ground with one-horse turn plow ; then harrow and 
reverse as before, or use a roller, if convenient, as it will prevent the land 
from drying, and enable it to retain moisture longer. Lay off" the rows three 
feet each way, and set out the plants in each check. They should be pulled 
from the bed very carefully, without breaking or bruising, the straightest 
and most healthy plants selected, and should be set out as deep as they 
were growing in the bed, and as early as possible after being taken up. Care 
should also be taken to have the soil pushed down equally on all sides in 
setting out. 

After transplanting, small limbs twelve inches long, with leaves on them, 
should be stuck down on the southwest side of each plant, letting the top 
lean in a northeasterly direction over it, so as to shade it during the after- 
noon. Twigs from the broad leaf black-jack are very suitable for this pur- 
pose. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon are the best time for 
transplanting. If the weather should be very hot or windy for two days 
after transplanting, the plants should be watered, as before directed for the 
bed, pouring about half pint of water around each hill. If they are watered 
in the afternoon, go over the patch early next morning and cover the soil 
that has been moistened by the watering with dry dirt, to prevent the sun 
from scalding the plants or evaporating the water. A single watering will 
generally be sufficient, unless the weather is very dry ; for frequent applica- 
tions of water will sometimes cause the roots of the Cabbage to rot. If a 
rain should occur about six days after transplanting, the twigs or brush 
should be removed late in the afternoon, and earth should be drawn to the 
hills early next morning. This latter process should be repeated every week, 
and the ground kept clear of weeds and grass. 

If the foregoing directions are carried out faithfully the plants will grow 
off" very rapidly. Some of them will probably die, but these may be replaced 
from the bed, and should be managed as above directed. 

About three weeks from the setting oat they should be plowed with a 
small scooter, running deep three or four times between the rows. It is best 
to use a very narrow plow, so that it can be pulled by hand, as it would be 
impossible to prevent a horse or mule from killing a considerable number of 
the plants. They should be plowed at least three times, and hoed double 
that number of times. After each plowing, the soil should be leveled with 
the hoe and the plants slightly hilled up. Examine carefully before each 
hoeing, to see if there are any cut-worms around the roots of the stalks. 



48 

Each hand, when going into the Cabbage patch, should be provided with 
some vessel in which to secure these worms, which should always be burned. 
If these pests should become very numerous, the patch should be examined 
every second day. Frequent workings will destroy a great many of them. 
Land that has been cow-penned and broken up frequently is not apt to be 
troubled with cut-worms. 

The more thorough the cultivation the larger, whiter and sweeter will be 
the Cabbage. The crop requires frequent working, but, if well cultivated, 
will repay the farmer finely for his labor. After making allowance for missing 
hills, over four thousand plants can be raised on a single acre, which, at ten 
cents per head, would realize over four hundred dollars. Mr. William Davis, 
of Burke county, for several years previous to the late war, realized that 
amount from an acre of ground planted in Buncombe Cabbage. The soil 
was made very rich, and the seed were procured fresh from North Carolina 
each year. He shipped them by railroad to Augusta in old crates during 
the months of November, December and January. The writer made a fine 
crop of them on his plantation in Burke county, Ga., in 18G3, and sold them 
quite profitably in Waynesboro and Augusta. 

Good Buncombe Cabbage cannot be made without considerable pains and 
trouble in the cultivation. A good many farmers fail in this crop on account 
of imperfect preparation of the soil, or a want of proper care in transplant- 
ing and cultivating. The lovver leaves should never be taken from the stalk 
until the head is entirely formed, as it will cause the Cabbage to head imper- 
fectlv. When the head is perfectly formed the stalk may be taken up ; the 
lower leaves that are not well closed up may be removed, and the stalk cut 
in two a few inches below the head. The root, stalk and leaves may then 
be fed to stock. The roots should always be removed, as they injure the 
land if allowed to remain. 

The bud worms sometimes attacks the Cabbage about the time it is be- 
ginning to head. They should be picked off early every morning and 
burnt, and will annoy the crop for only a few days. The writer once 
attempted to get rid of them by turning chickens into his garden, but they 
soon acquired a relish for the Cabbage, and he had to abandon the experi- 
ment. 

In the year 1862 the writer sowed Buncombe Cabbage about the 15th of 
May, and finding that the plants would be too large for transplanting before 
there was sufficient rain to put the soil in proper condition, he had about 
four hundred gallons of water drawn, and after allowing it to remain exposed 
to the atmosphere for three days, had the ground broken up and harrowed, 
and laid off three feet each way. He then had a pint of water put in each 
check, and after it had been absorbed, had the same quantity poured in 
again, and commenced transplanting late in the afternoon, finishing about 1 
o'clock next morning. Early next day bushes or twigs were placed over 
each hill, and in the afternoon they were watered as before. On the morn- 
ing of the third day dry soil was drawn to the plants to prevent the evapo- 
ration of the water, and in the afternoon they were watered a third time, 
and the soil drawn up as before. By this means a very good stand was ob- 
tained even in a very dry season. 

In order to make very large Cabbage, they should be planted four feet 
oach way, on land that has been made very rich and has been well prepared. 
They can be made to weigh from twenty to thirty pounds each. If the same 



49 

land is planted in Cabbage for several successive years, it should be very 
highly fertilized each year, as this is a very exhausting crop. 

The writer has had considerable experience in the cultivation of this crop, 
and has enjoyed opportunities of observing the mode of culture employed 
by the most successful gardeners in the South and West. He hopes, there- 
fore, that if the foregoing directions are strictly carried out, Southern 
farmers will have no difficulty in raising Buncombe Cabbage. It is difficult 
in the South to save the seed of this Cabbage. A fly destroys them when 
in bloom. When seed are plentiful, in the latitude of North Carolina they 
may be planted at the requisite distances. But in the latitude of Burke 
county. Ga., they had better be sown and transplanted, ?iince they have to be 
shaded until large enough to be set out, and even after, until they take root. 
They will make larger and sweeter Cabbage, if the land be rich and properly 
prepared — will grow off and mature sooner when transplanted. Six or 
eight days before transplanting, remove the bushes from shading the plants. 
This must be done by degrees. By this they become toughened, and will 
be able to endure the hot sun better — will be more apt to live and grow off 
more rapidly. 



CUBA SMOKING TOBACCO. 

This plant grows finely, and makes a good quality of Tobacco on the sea- 
coast of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. In 1845, while farming on 
Skidaway Island, I procured seed from Major Starke, who had obtained 
them from Cuba, and I succeeded in raising some very fine Tobacco. The 
following directions for the cultivation of this crop are taken principally 
from an article written bv a French planter for a New Orleans paper in 
1844 : 

"Sow the seed in December, in wet, rich soil, and butt the bed down 
smooth and firm, in order to make the seed adhere to the soil. They will 
not come up if sown on dry, sandy land. Break up the land well, and lay 
it off three and a half feet each way. Put a quart of good stable manure in 
each check, covering it tolerably deep. Let it stand thus for two months ; 
then set out the plants in a wet time, shading them with twigs or brush. 
Water, if necessary, and replant until a stand is secured. Cultivate with 
three plowings and four hoeings. 

"When the plants are about fifteen inches in height they should be suck- 
ered once a week ; and when the worms make their appearance, they should 
be picked off every morning and burnt. As soon as the top buds seem to 
be going to seed, they should be pinched or cut off once a week, or as often 
as it becomes necessary. A sufficient number of stalks should be allowed 
to buds for seed, for planting. When the stalks are cut, the seed should be 
dried and put away for the next year. When the plants change to a dark 
brown color, and the leaves adhere to the hand when touched, it is then 
ready to be cut down. After being cut, the stalks should be hung up under 
shelter to be cured. They should not be allowed to touch each other, but 
7 



50' 

should be so placed that the air may circulate freely through the whole 
house. Holes can be made through the butt ends of the stalks, through 
which strips of wood may be passed, or it may be hung with bear grass as 
meat is. 

"When the stalks have turned nearly black, they should be taken down, 
and the leaves should be stripped off and covered with blankets or thick tar- 
paulin cloth, in order to give it a sweat. After remaining in this condition 
for two months, it should be taken up and the leaves stripped from the stems. 
Then boil the stems and dampen the Tobacco with the amber. The flavor 
may be much improved by the addition of a little clarified sugar to the 
amber, 

"After the dampening, the Tobacco should remain in a close room for two 
or three days, and should then be spread out and aired. When it becomes 
dry, it should be packed up in barrels or hogsheads, and is then ready to be 
made into Cigars or ground into Smoking Tobacco. The best quality should 
be used for Cigars, and the inferior grades for Smoking Tobacco. The 
flavor of the former may be improved by being dampened with cologne 
water." 

I made some very fine Tobacco ou Major Starke's plantation, which was 
manufactured into Cigars in Savannah and Augusta. I also succeeded in 
raising a good crop of Smoking Tobacco on the plantation of A. J. Lawson, 
who procured seed from a tobacconist in Savannah, and also on my own 
place in Burke county, Ga , in 1862. Most of the last crop was destroyed 
by Sherman in his "march to the sea." 

Smoking Tobacco requires a very warm climate — the warmer the better. 
I have never cultivated Chewing Tobacco. The process of curing and man- 
ufacturing does not diiTer much from that of Smoking Tobacco, except that 
it is twisted and pressed in any shape or size that may be wished. Chewing 
Tobacco grows best in a cold climate. Either kind may be raised in the 
Eastern cotton-growing States, but not without considerable trouble. The 
Cuba Tobacco will pay better than the other. Where both kinds are planted 
they should not be near each other, as they will become adulterated. The 
seed should be procured from Cuba and Virginia every two years. Cuba 
Tobacco has very long, smooth leaves, while those of the Chewing Tobacco 
are round and much thicker. The ash of the former is much whiter than 
that of the latter; the flavor is better, and it is a superior Tobacco in almost 
every respect. The Virginia Tobacco is not suitable for Cigars. 

After the stalks have been cut down the roots shcnild be dug up, as they 
will injure the land if allowed to remain. This should be done immediately, 
as they sometimes take a second growth. 

The culture of Tobacco has never been very extensive in the extreme 
Southern States, the energies of the planter being generally exclusively mo- 
nopolized in the cultivation of Cotton. 

The hints above have been mostly taken from the article referred to in the 
beginning of this chapter, approved by my own experience in the cultiva- 
tion of the weed. 



51 



CHEWING TOBACCO. 

A rich loam is the best soil for Tobacco. The spot selected for seed bed 
should be on the south side of a hill, well protected from bleak North winds. 
The soil should be mellow, warm and rich. The earth should be well pul- 
verized, and where possible, a trash heap should be burnt on the spot where 
you intend to sow your seed. Enrich the bed with Peruvian guano, wood 
ashes and soot. Sow the seed thickly, and beat down the bed with a maul, 
to make the seed adhere to the soil and prevent bleak winds from drying it 
too much. Sow the seed in February, in the Southern States. They may 
be sown any time during the winter when the weather is warm. Protect 
the plants by covering with pine brush or straw. Sow at intervals during 
the winter, so as to have plenty of plants. The bed must be free from grass 
and weeds; pick them out by hand. Use liquid manure and soot, after the 
plants come up, to destroy the black insect. New lands are far the best to 
make Tobacco. Have the land in good order where the plants are to be set 
out. Set out three by four feet. Cultivate as you would Cuba Tobacco or 
Buncombe Cabbage. When the plants turn yellow, cut them down near the 
surface by turning up the bottom leaves and striking with a Tobacco knife. 
The plants should lie on the ground to wilt ; then be taken to the Tobacco 
house and hung up. The Tobacco house should be well built, airy, and per- 
fectly tight when the doors are shut, so as to exclude the damp air, which 
will injure the color and damage the quality of the Tobacco. As the leaves 
cure, put the first hung up closer, to make room for more — as close as pos- 
sible, without actually touching. When the Tobacco has become dried and 
well cured, and the weather is mild and damp, it will become soft and pliant. 
Then strip the leaves from the stalks and tie them up in small bundles. 
These are formed by wrapping a leaf around the upper end of a handful of 
leaves for three or four inches, tucking the end into the middle of the bundle. 

There should be, if the quality of the crop permits, four sorts of Tobacco : 
First, second, bright yellow, and dull. It is best not to take down more 
than can be tied up in a few hours. To bulk Tobacco requires judgment 
and neatness. Logs should be laid parallel, and sticks or boards laid across 
these to support the bulk and allow free passage of air from below. Two 
rows of bundles, put in bulk and carried up together, the heads out and the 
opposite ends touching, should be built up a sufficient height. Then a few 
sticks should be laid on the top to keep the Tobacco in place. The heap 
must be watched. Should it heat, grow musty, or acquire a bad smell, it must 
be taken down, bundle by bundle, and made into another bulk, without pres- 
sure, that the Tobacco may lie loose and admit free circulation of air. This 
is called wind-rowing. « 

After the Tobacco has become thoroughly dry, has the natural smell in 
full force, and when a warm and moist spell of weather has made it pliant, 
it is in fit condition to be made into three, four, or even six round bulks, 
according to quantity ; covered with sticks or boards, and weighted dow 
with logs, when it will keep in nice order for packing into hogsheads. The 
best time to pack is in mild, pleasant weather. The Tobacco is then packed 



52 

in any quantity or form that the planter chooses and is ready for market. 
Tobacco brings a high price, and every planter in the Southern States should 
raise and cure enough for his own use at least. Both the Cuba and Virginia 
Tobacco grow well in the Cotton-growing States. One quarter of an acre, 
well prepared and enriched, will make enough for one year's use of a large 
family. Every planter should raise some of every crop needed at home. 

The Virginia Tobacco planters, in times of slavery, sent into their fields 
what they called their trash-gang — children too young for field labor — in 
charge of an old man or woman. These suckered the Tobacco aud picked 
off the worms. Some planters turned into their fields large flocks of turkeys. 
These will consume a great many worms, but should not be depended upon 
wholly. Tobacco must not be neglected. Worms may have to be picked 
off even after the weed has been cut and hung up. To succeed well in 
raising Tobacco it requires constant attention. The crop is easy of cultiva- 
tion and not unhealthy, but the task of curing is disagreeable. It has been 
said that one who lives in a Tobacco house will never be subject to an attack 
of cholera. I have now given all necessary directions. 



CULTIVATION OF GRAPES. 

By W. T. KILLINGSWORTH. 

Sandy loams, with clay subsoil fifteen inches or two feet beneath the sur- 
face, are best adapted to the cultivation of Grapes. The vines should be set 
out in holes two feet deep, fifteen inches square, and six feet apart each way. 
Fertilize with one pint of bone dust to each hill. Press the soil rather 
loosely around the vine, and leave only one bud exposed. When they are 
one year old, cut back to three buds on eyes and stake well. Break and 
subsoil the land two feet deep, if possible — the deeper the better, as it will 
cause the Grapes to grow larger, and the vines will be more prolific. One 
thorough plowing will be sufficient. When the vines are pruned in January, 
trim off the roots near the surface. Keep the grass and weeds down with 
the hoe during the summer. After the blooms drop, the suckers should be 
removed by hand once a year. The stakes should be six feet high, and the 
vines should be strongly tied up around them. 

When two years old, remove all dead wood ; prune as before, reserving a 
new cane ; cut back to three eyes. Cultivate as directed for first year. 
Continue this process until the vines are four years old, reserving a new cane 
each year. There will then be four canes, with three eyes to each, which 
will produce twelve bearing vines to each root. Prune with a sharp knife, 
as this will cause the vines to hold their leaves and protect the Grapes from 
the rays of the sun. They will ripen sooner and more uniformly, be less 
apt to rot, and possess a finer flavor. Do not allow the vines to run too 
high above the stakes, and replace the latter with new ones when neces- 
sary. In the opinion of the writer, no crop will pay better than this when 
properly attended to. From a trial of a number of varieties, during an 
experience of thirteen years, he prefers the Catawba Grape for the latitude 
of Augusta, Ga. 



53 



PEACH CULTURE. 

By W. T. KILLINGSWORTH. 

A sandy loam, with clay foundation, situated on an elevated hillside, 
sloping to the Northwest, will be found best suited to the production of this 
fruit. Lay off the land in rows twenty-five feet distant each way, and drop 
two seed in each check. Cultivate in Cotton or Corn, leaving a space of 
three feet to each row of the young trees unplanted. Plow this out with 
sweeps, so as to kill the grass and weeds, without injuring the roots of the 
trees. When they are one year old, cut off" level with the ground and graft 
with such varieties as are desired. Cultivate the second year as above 
directed, leaving but one tree to each hill. During the third year cut back 
to two feet high, leaving about four branches to each stock, and keep them 
trimmed so that they may not grow too tall to be reached by hand. If 
worms make their appearance about the roots, remove them, and apply a 
small quantity of oak ashes or unslacked lime, after taking away a portion 
of the surface soil around the tree. This soil should not be replaced, as it 
will cause the worms to return. While the ground is frozen in winter, apply 
a load of pine straw to each hill, first examining for worms and destroying 
them. The straw should be eighteen inches deep, and should extend four 
feet in all directions from the tree. This will prevent the trees from bloom- 
ing early, and thus secure the fruit from injury by frosts. After the straw 
decays, scatter it over the orchard and apply a fresh supply as before. Allow 
no stock of any kind in the orchard. If the fruit falls from the trees, it 
should be carried out in baskets to the hog pasture, which should be situated 
near the orchard for this purpose. Continue to cultivate as above, and if any 
of the trees should die, supply their places with grafted scions from the 
nursery, which should be kept on hand for that purpose. 



APPLE CULTURE. 

By W. T. KILLINGSWORTH. 

Select for an Apple orchard a piece of level land having a clay founda- 
tion. Graft on Crab Apple or Sweetening stocks, or take a limb from a tree 
of any desired variety and plant in damp, rich, mellow soil, eighteen inches 
deep, so as to ensure the growth. The last method is preferable, as it is 
quicker, more certain, and there is less liability of adulteration. After the 
scions are secured, set out in rows twenty-five feet apart and cut back to two 
feet high. Leave about four branches to each, and train them to grow off" 
opposite each other. The 1st of February is the proper time for setting out. 



54 

Break up the land well and cultivate in Cotton or Vegetables. Sow no 
small grain in the orchard, nor allow it to "lie out." No stock should be 
Buffered to run in it except hogs, and they only in fruit seasons. Prune the 
trees in January every year, and train low, so that the fruit can be gathered 
conveniently by hand. Break the land deeply in the centre of the rows 
early in January, but plow very shallow for a space of four feet on each side 
of the trees. In cultivating crops in the orchard, use sweeps near the trees, 
Dierely skimming the surface, so as to prevent injury to the roots. The plow 
should not be allowed to go within three feet of the trees, but the grass and 
weeds under them should be kept down with the hoe. Gather the fruit 
always by hand, and only when fully ripe. Keep the trees clear of worms 
and caterpillars. 



STRAWBERRIES. 

By W. T. killings worth. 

This fruit thrives best on fertile bottom lands, with a damp, grey, loamy 
soil. If the land is wet, it should be drained. It should be broken up, sub- 
soiled and harrowed level. Then lay off rows or trenches three feet apart, 
and fill these with well rotted stable manure or cotton seed, or with decayed 
wood. Rich vegetable mould from the woods is also a good fertilizer for 
Strawberries, and when mixed with decayed grass, heaped up when green, 
and stable manure, is, in the opinion of the writer, preferable to any other 
application that he has ever made in twelve years experience. Guanos can- 
not be recommended for this crop. 

The trenches should be side-hauled with hoes, making an oval bed. Set 
out the plants on these beds two feet apart, in October. Divide the roots 
carefully, and press the soil evenly around them, so that they may grow 
down into the bed uniformly. They will be more apt to live under such 
treatment, will grow off better, and bear more and finer fruit. Hoe lightly 
every three weeks during the spring and summer, or oftener, if necessary, 
and keep the ridge in an oval form. Remove the runners as fast as they 
make their appearance, from the time the fruit commences to ripen until the 
close of the season. This will hasten the maturity and improve the size and 
quantity of the fruit. 

The "Wilson's Improved" is the best variety for the South. The Tri- 
omphe de Gand is also a good variety — not so prolific as the first named, 
but the fruit is larger and of finer flavor. The writer has known thirty-three 
berries of this variety to measure a quart. Either of the above named, if 
well cultivated, will, in favorable seasons, commence ripening by the 10th of 
April, and on moist lands will bear until the middle of July. On suitable 
lands four hundred dollars can be realized to the acre. 



55 



PEACH CULTURE. 

By JOSEPH SAXON. 

The most suitable location for a peach orchard is on high, dry, sandy 
land, naturally fertile and having a clay subsoil. On such lands the trees 
will grow larger, live longer and bear fruit more regularly than on other 
soils. The seed should be planted in the nursery immediately after being 
taken from the fruit. They should be sown thickly in drills, about five inches 
deep, in rich, mellow soil. They will then grow off rapidly, make tall 
trunks so as to be cultivated with more ease and will bear at an early age. 
The land selected for the orchard should be broken up deeply, harrowed 
level and laid off thirty feet each way. At each check dig a large hole and 
put in a liberal allowance of stable manure and rich earth, well mixed. 
About the first of February, take the trees from the nursery with as little 
loss of roots as possible, and as they are taken up, mark the Northern side 
of each, so that they may be set out exactly as they stood in the nursery. 
If this precaution is taken, the trees will be less apt to die, and will grow 
off better. They should be set out, eight or ten inches deep, on the mix- 
ture of manure and earth, which should be moist, and the soil taken from 
the holes, should then be packed firmly around the roots. After setting out 
the trees, bend them towards the South, so that the trunk will be protected 
from the sun. 

For the first three years cultivate the orchard in cotton, breaking the land 
very deeply early in Spring, not too deeply near the trees, and cultivating 
shallow and level, with sweeps afterwards. After the third year plant in 
early corn and peas, fertilizing the crop so that it may mature by the time 
the peaches ripen, and it will afford fine pasturage for hogs. No other 
stock should be allowed to run in the orchard except hogs, and they only 
while the fruit is ripening. The trees should be trimmed every year to a 
height of from five or six feet from the ground, so that the limbs may not 
be injured by horse or mule in plowing under them. Moderately cold 
weather in December or January is the best time for pruning. 

When the trees need fertilizing, take the surface soil from the roots dur- 
ing a warm spell, in November or December, and apply some good compost, 
leaving the roots partially exposed until March following. The trees will 
then bloom later and will therefore be less liable to injury from late frosts. 
I'he application of a pint of superphosphate of lime, mixed with a tea- 
spoonful of salt to each tree will be found very beneficial in destroying the 
bugs and worms that infest the orchard. 

The fruit should not be removed from the tree until fully ripe, and 
should always be picked by careful hands. Orchards should not be sown in 
small grains, nor be allowed to grow up in broom sedge, as the sedge will 
injure the land, and cannot be burnt off without killing some of the trees. 
By planting properly selected seed, or procuring trees from reliable South- 
ern nurserymen, peach culture can, with good management, be made very 
profitable. While the latter may be considered the more certain method 



56 

of obtaining a good orchard, the writer has succeeded in raising excellent 
fruit from the seed without grafting or budding. From thirty years of suc- 
cessful experience in the cultivation of the peach, he offers the foregoing 
hints as the results of that experience. 



RAISING HAY Ii\ THE SOUTH. 

The South has heretofore been almost entirely dependent on the North 
and West for hay. The experience of the present year, 1870, should induce 
every Southern planter to make an oflbrt to raise his own hay. They 
have been paying nearly all the year two dollars per hundred for this ar- 
ticle, which, in a good many instances, was not worth the expense of haul- 
ing to the plantation, as no stock that were not half starved would eat it. 
The crab and crowfoot grasses, which grow so luxuriantly in the South, 
both make good hay. Very rich land will pay as well in this crop as 
any other. 

The crowfoot grass seed should be sown the first of June, and the ground 
should be harrowed very level, so that it can be cut nearly even with the 
surface. On good land it can be cut twice. It should be cut in the 
morning, put into piles or cocks at night and hauled to the barn next 
day, thirty-six hours being sufficient to cure it nicely. A'large quantity 
can be made on a small piece of land, if well managed. 

Hay can be more cheaply raised than fodder, but planters should make 
as large a quantity of each as they can, so that all their stock may be 
supplied. Hay is easily gathered, but should be cut at the proper time. 



HOE CULTURE. 

This method of cultivation, so extensively employed by planters on the 
sea coast and the islands adjacent, might, I think, be profitably used in all 
bottom lands throughout the Southern States. The considerations which 
rendered its use economical on such lands, under the old regime, would re- 
commend it much more strongly under the present one. Then, provisions 
and stock were cheap — now, they are anything else; and other expenses 
connected with plow culture, such as gear, blacksmith work, &c., have ad- 
vanced proportionally. Losses among stock by death and theft are also 
much heavier than formerly. 

At present prices, it would require an outlay of not less than two thousand 
dollars to stock a farm for twenty hands, with ten number one mules, their 
feed, and improved implements, exclusive of provisions for the hands; 
whereas, under the old system, not more than eight hundred dollars would 
be necessary to furnish hands with provisions for eight months, and with the 



5Y 

requisite tools. Taking into consideration, then, the interest on the funds 
invested and the risks to be run, the latter would certainly be the safest in- 
vestment, especially to those who have everything to purchase. Under this 
system, eight acres of land might be allotted to each hand, after furnishin<.'; 
them with weeding and grubbing hoes, spades, shovels, mattocks, &c., and 
making each responsible, at the close of the year, for the implements 
furnished. Six acres of the eight might be planted in Cotton, and the re- 
maining two in Corn, which would furnish bread to the hands for the ensuing 
year. The laborers might feed themselves, and give the landholder half the 
products of their labor. 

All the hauling necessary about the farm could be accomplished with oxen 
at little expense, which might be shared by both parties. A plow might bo 
used for laying off the rows for planting or bedding, in order to have them 
straight, but this would be necessary only one year, as they could afterwards 
be kept straight by listing on the middles with the hoe each succeeding 
year. If this system of culture is adopted, only one-half of the open land 
should be cultivated, the remainder being allowed to rest, to be put in culti- 
vation the succeeding year. By alternating thus, the fertility of the soil 
could be kept up. After the crop is laid by, the hands should be employed 
in reversing the beds on the land lying out, in order to bury the green weeds 
for manure. 

A short time before planting, these beds should be side-hauled and weeded 
off, to destroy the first crop of grass. If the land is to be planted in Cotton, 
small holes should be made at such distance as the plants are to stand — five 
or six seed dropped in each hill and covered one inch deep. At the first 
hoeing side-haul lightly on both sides, leaving two or three stalks to the hill. 
At the second working thin to one or two plants, hoeing only deep enough 
to destroy the grass and weeds. Care should be taken that the beds are not 
left too high. 

All wet lands should be thoroughly drained before being cultivated. 
Large open ponds and the land immediately around them shopld never be 
drained, but should be left as pasturage for stock. There are many advan- 
tages connected with the system of hoe culture, and under some circum- 
stances it will be found to be attended with more profit than the ordinary 
method of cultivation. The planter has better opportunity for raising or 
collecting manure, can apply it to the land more advantageously, and can 
prepare his soil better for a succeeding crop. 

I superintended three plantations in Chatham county, in this State, the 
same year — one of them using plows, and the others only hoes, in the culti- 
vation of the crops. The latter were managed with less trouble and expense, 
and gave a larger net profit to the owners than the first. The hands on the 
two plantations using the hoe were tasked, and gained a portion of each day 
for themselves ; while those on the other place were required to labor during 
the whole of each day. 

A Mr. Waldburg, owning a plantation on St. Cathnrine's Island, below 
Savannah, Ga., employed this system of culture exclusively, and became 
quite wealthy from the profits of his planting interest. He usually made 
two bales of Sea Island Cotton to the hand, with a sufficient amount of Com 
to provision them. 

When planters wish to use a few plows, they could, by employing twenty- 
six inch Dickson sweeps, and running once in each middle, cultivate seventy- 
8 



58 

five acres to the horse, and work over their crop in twelve or tourteen days. 
This would lighten the work of the hoe hands very much, and would require 
only one-third the number of horses or mules usually employed. When 
plows are used the lands should he deeply broken in spring, and the after 
culture with plow and hoe should be shallow, to prevent injury to the roots 
of the plant and the consequent shedding of the fruit. 

A large area of land throughout the Southern States is now lying waste 
and useless, because too low and wet f r cultivation with the plow, but 
which might be rendered available under a system of hoe culture. Thorough 
draining would be necessary to rid the soil of the superfluous water. This 
might be attained by a set of ditches properly arranged. In the cultivation, 
the direction of the rows should be such as to carry the water into these 
artificial drains. 



TO DESTROY BERMUDA GRASS. 

A practical mode of destroying this annoying pest has long been a desid- 
eratum in Southern farming. [ suggest a plan below which, if faithfully 
carried out, will, I think, etiectually accomplish the purpose : 

Hew out four pieces of t<->ugh wood, six feet long and twelve inches 
square, and mortice three holes in each piece, one and a half inches scjuare ; 
one through the centie, and the other two one and a half feet froi: each end. 
Have iron bolts or rods made to pass through these holes, with large nuts 
or keys, in order to hold the timber securely together. Then mortice lioles 
a halt inch wide through each piece, in which insert and fasten long, sharp, 
wide knives, letting them extend far enough beneath to reach the deepest 
grass roots. Dub oft' one foot from one of the ends in order to make it 
slide ovr the ground with less difticulty ; and to this end attach a tongue 
for four horses or oxen. The knives should be put in sufficiently near each 
other to cut the grass in pieces not exceeding an inch in length. They 
should be kept sharp, and the planter should have an extra supply on hand 
to replace such as may be broken. If the weight of the timbers is not suffi- 
cient to make the knives cut their full length, additional weight should be 
attached. Two hands will be necessary — one to stand on the slide, and the 
other to ride and guide the team. A space of three and a half or four feet 
should be cut, and care should be taken not to exceed the latter width, in 
order that no grass may be left undisturbed. 

After the field is passed over in one direction, the slide should go over it 
again transversely, pains being taken that this direction is exactly opposite 
the former one. The ground should then be thoroughly harrowed, and the 
grass gathered in piles and burned. This work should be done in November 
or early in December. 

A suitable harrow may be made of eight pieces of tough wood, four feet 
long and four by six inches square. These should be strongly pinned to- 
gether, four pieces running each way, and should have forty iron teeth one 
inch square, one foot long, and square poinied. It should be passed over 



59 

the field three or four times, if necessary, and should be weighted down the 
first tinae. Some sprigs and roots (f !he grass will be left, but the soil will 
be so thoroughly pulverized as to enable the winter freezes to kill out what 
remains. 

The driver should walk behind the harrow, and should carry a forked 
stick, in order to lift and relieve it when choked with grass. All obstruc- 
tions, such as trees, stumps, logs or roots, should be removed, that the work 
may be thoroughly done. If the harrow is passed over the field just before 
planting time again, it will leave the soil in fii:e order for the use of the 
sweep and sulkv cultivator. 



A Plan to Economise Time and Labor. 

In the system of cultivation generally pursued, the rows are made to run 
directly across tlie field, or in directions conforming to the i clination or 
nature of the ground. On broken or rolling lantls this is necessary, in 
order to prevent the soil from washing away. When lands are level, how- 
ever, time and labor might be saved by pursuing the plan below suggestinl. 
If the field is perfectly square, first remove all obstructions and break up 
and harrow the ground deeply and thoroughly. Then, with the centre of 
the side,4)y which you enter the field, as a starting point, mark ofi" with a 
shovel plow the largest circle possible in the ground to be cultivated. This 
can be done by the use of stakes set at the necessary points around the 
borders of the field. The circle should be made as nearly perfect as possi- 
ble. When the plowman has nearly arrived at his starting point, the direc- 
tion should be changed sufliciently to enable him to run to a stake set seven 
feet from the starting point, and on a direct line from that point to the centre 
of the field. Then get a small pole or rod sev^en feet two or three inches 
long; attach one end to the bridle bit and the other to a button on the coat 
or pants of a boy, who will be required to walk steadily in the furrow 
already made. This will guide the plow in a line directly parallel with the 
circle first made, and by a continuation of this process the entire field may 
be " layed off" without a single stoppage. When the circle becomes small, 
some space in the centre of the field might be left, and this, with the corners 
of the field, could be afterwards sown in Peas. 

At the first working of the Corn, if the land is stiff, it should be sided 
with two seven inch scooters attached to a single stock, one of them run- 
ning next to the Corn on the right of No. 2, and one plow on the left of No. 
1, all the time, till the field is finished. The middles should then be split 
out with a sulky plow, having five seven inch scooters attached. At all the 
subsequent plowings side with a twenty or twenty two inch Dickson sweep, 
and finish the middles with the sulky plow, having three of the above named 
sweeps attached — two fifteen inches wide, and one twenty-two inches wide, 
in rear of them, to fini.sh the middle. If the land is light, the sweeps will 
answer for all the workings. They will leave the land level and in fine order. 
Planters should be careful to get the genuine Dickson sweep, as large 



60 

numbers of worthless implements have been sold and used under that name. 
< )nly three plowings are usually allowed to Corn in the Southern Slates, but 
i am confident that a fourth would fully repay for the labor invested. The 
sulky plow has been condemned by some planters because they failed to side 
Corn or Cotton properly with them ; but in splitting middles, as above 
directed, T think they will save the labor of a hand and horse in cultivating 
wide drilled Corn or Sugar Cane. 

If the plan of laying otF land in circles, recommended above, is pursued, 
and if the soil is well prepared and all obstructions removed, a horse will 
walk twenty miles per day instead of fifteen or sixteen, as they now do. 
This will be a saving of one-fourth the labor, a very important item under 
the present dispensation, when the expenses of cultivation deduct so largely 
from the profits of the crop. 

Southern planters fail to pay sufficient attention to these expedients for 
economising time and labor, being too prone to follow the old-fashioned no- 
lions of their fathers The time is coming, however, when necessity will 
lorce them to abandon these old "landmarks," and, by the use of labor- 
saving implements and the adoption of a more enlightened system of culti- 
vation, to fall in the wake of the few thinking men, who are now giving a 
Iresh impetus to the cause of Southern agriculture. 

In the plan above suggested, a "turn row" running from the point at which 
the field is entered to its centre, should be left for the convenience of teams 
in going from and returning to their work. 




One plow will side the Corn on the right of No. 2, and one plow on the 
left of No. 1, going round in the same direction till the field is finished. 
The sulky plow will go outside of the first furrow run ; after going round 
will go in between N o. 1 and No. 2, in the same direction, till the field is 
finished. 



«1 



HINTS ON FARM BUILDINGS. 

In " ante-bellum '' times, when servants were plentiful and reliable, the 
Southern planter did not feel the necessity of arranging his farm buildings 
with any special eye to convenience. As "freedom has come out," how- 
ever, and we are often forced to the performance of tasks which we 
have been in the habit of assigning to others, it behooves us to make some 
changes in the disposition of our dwellings and out-houses, in order to 
render these tasks as light as possible. The area heretofore allowed has 
been too large, the distance between the different buildings too great, 
and they should be contracted to suit the times. In making these 
changes, however, care should be taken that the danger from tire is not 
rendered too great. A cooking room or wood-house should never be attached 
to the dwelling on this account. A corn crib, also, should be detached 
from other buildings. It should be built on substantial pillars of brick or 
rock, or on " light wood " or post oak blocks, five or six feet high. These 
should be covered with tin or copper, and should be capped with pieces 
of plank of sutficient dimensions to project several inches beyond the post 
or pillow. These caps should also be lined on the underside with tin or 
copper. The steps should be made movable, and a supply of corn should 
be taken once a week and put into a smaller crib built on the same plan. 
These precautions would prevent the depredations of rats or mice, which 
are becoming a matter of serious importance. 

Gin houses should be built thirty-two by forty-two feet " in the clear," 
in order to allow ten feet for the lint room, and leave thirty-two feet for 
the diameter of the circle in which the horses turn. When only one 
story is intended, the sills on which the rafters rest should be eight by 
twenty inches. The latter should be hewed or sawed three by eight inches, 
and should be long enough to give the roof considerable pitck. This 
will give more room. The sleepers should be thin, but very wide, in 
order that they may not swag. The first story should be at least nine 
feet from the ground, and the king-post should be sufficiently long to be fas- 
tened inside of the gin house. This will make it more steady, and will 
prevent the swagging of the floor on the king-post. Cog wheels should 
be made very strong, and should be large enough to give sutficient speed. 
Wooden cogs are preferable, I think, to iron, as they make the draught 
lighter and are more easily repaired when broken. 

When the soil is very sandy or muddy, or spongy, it would be advis- 
able to make a plank road for the mules, covering it lightly with sand. On 
very large plantations, the " running gear" should be built with two band 
wheels, in order that two gins may be used and the crop may be prepared 
for market as early as possible. The circle will have to be made correspon- 
dingly large, so that six mules may be used. Some arrangement shoul d also 
be made for elevating the cotton to the second and third stories. All gin 
houses should have a sutficient number of windows, with glass lights, to give 
thorough ventilation and illumination. 

Shingles should be eighteen inches in length, four in width and a half 



62' 

inch in thickness, with two-thirds of the length drawn on either side. The 
bntt ends should not be drawn, as they will carry off water more readily 
and will be less liable to warp or split if left rougli. 

An interval of three inches may be left between the sheeting in the 
Soutliern States, but in a colder climate, where much snow falls, it should 
be tongned and grooved, in order to prevent the snow from beating or being 
blown tliiouih the roof 

All gates, except the entrances to a ilovver garden, should be ten feet wide, 
for convenience in hauling. There will be very little difference in the ex- 
pense of building, which will be more than repaid by the lime and labor 
saved. 

The different qualities of cotton should be kept separate, ginned .separate 
and packed in bales separate. If all planters would adopt this rule, there 
would be less complaint of mixed cotton. It would be better for the plan- 
ter and commission merchant, and for all men the world over, who deal in 
cotton and cotton goods. 

To run two or more szins, discharging in the same lint room, can be done 
by having an additional countershaft to the gin house, driven by th:- drum 
wheel below. Any machinist will readily understand how to contrive it. 
By this arrangement six mules will drive two sixty saw gins with more ease 
than four mules will drive one in th" usual way. One additional feeder only 
will be required. One hand supplying the cott* n will be quite sufficient, 
as the gins may be placed conveniently near to each other. The cotton 
should be carried into the upper story by lever powei, and a hole made in 
the floor nearly over each gin, through which a boy might throw the cot- 
ton down with a pitchfork, so as to be convenient to each ginner, and 
economize time and labor. 



(UST KlINS. 

In various sections of the Southern States, the water is impregnated with 
rotten limestone and other ingredients, which exercise an unwholesome in- 
fluence on the system and superinduce disease. This result might, I think, 
be avoided, in a large degree, by the use of cisterns. A sufficient supply 
of water should be obtained during the months of November, December 
and January, and should be filtered as it is caught through charcoal and 
freestone sand. It will then remain cool during the entire summer. The 
cistern should be built in September, in a shady grove, if possible, and 
should have a room fifteen feet square built over it. It should be lined 
with good brick, and on these have a coating of cement. The cost of 
one holding five hundred barrels of water would not exceed fifty dollars 
in silver. It has been a matter of surprise to me that they are not 
more generally used thrtiughout the rotten limestone regions. They are 
common in Mississippi and Louisiana, although in some parts ol the lat- 
ter State they have to be built above ground. I knew a planter in Mis- 
sissippi who used them on three plantations, and who was so much 
pleased witli them that he had one built for the use of his family in Virginia. If 



63 

they weie inoie geueially adopted in the sections where chill and fever pre- 
vail so extensively, " doctors' bills" and empty quinine bottles would not 
be so frequent. In ail regions destitute of water, each citizen should 
have several cisterns built for the several purposes ol drinking, washing, 
bathing, furnishing various kinds of stock, and also for watering garden 
and valuable patches around the dwelling. It will pay a householder to 
buy an engine for this purpose and to extinguish lire. Cisterns are more 
convenient for extinguishing fires than wells, and are less expensive. The 
water gathered from the clouds in midwinter is the purest in the world. 
The value of cisterns has never been appreciated except by those who 
have enjoyed their use. Good, pure cold water in summer is a great 
luxury and blessing. I consider good cistern water invaluable for all pur- 
poses. 



01 THE RAISING OF FOWLS. 

A plentiful supply of fresh water at all times is essential to the health 
of these birds ; therefore the enclosure where they are to be kept should 
always be contiguous to water. The fence which secures them should be 
made of pointed boards, ten feet high. A number of light coops, not too 
heavy to be easily moved by four men, should be placed about the fowl 
yard!^ Their location should be changed and they should be whitewashed with- 
in once in every two months. This will have a tendency to keep the fowls 
healthy and free from mites. Should they, nevertheless, become infested 
with mites, a powder, called by the apothecaries the red precipitate, mixed 
with lard and rubbed under the wings and around the necks, will be cer- 
tain death to these pests. The fowl yard should have an ample supply of 
fine gravel for their crops. Sow down small grain, half the yard at a time, ' 
every two months, that the fowls may have something green throughout the 
year" Trees of various kinds should be planted at regular distances, to pro- 
vide shade and to protect them to some extent from hawks. Still further, 
to procure this important result, poles, upon which a number of gourds 
should be hung to furnish convenient nests for martins, may be placed in 
each corner of the yard. 

Every species of small grain is good for fowls, and fresh meat chopped fine 
should be given them once a week. Parched corn, coarsely ground, is ex- 
cellent to promote laying. Neither Guinea hens, ducks, turkeys, nor geese 
are likely, in my opinion, to make a profit in the present condition of our 
section. But the common dunghill fowl, properly tended, will yield large 
profits. The cocks should be changed regularly once a year. 



64 



RAISING HORSES IN THE SOUTH. 

It will pay to raise fine blooded horses only at the South. The North- 
ern and Western farmers can afford to raise horses cheaper than planters in 
the cotton-growing States. They apply themselves to that business, under- 
stand and delight in it, while the Southern planters delight in raising cot- 
ton. The Northern lands are very fertile and the climate much better adap- 
ted to raising stock. The one region must therefore supply the other. It 
has been the case ever since my recollection, and always will be so. Some 
few planters before the war raised their own stock of all kinds, but they 
were very energetic, industrious, skillful and intelligent planters, who 
were able to conduct a complicated business. Smce the war, but little 
stock of any kind has been raised at the South. The planters have to 
depend on the Northwestern States for horses, mules and meat, and many 
even for corn and hay, even though they have to pay high prices for 
them. 

Good blooded horses are far superior for saddle and harness. They are 
fleeter and can travel longer. Southern planters should raise a few horses, 
and not depend entirely upon the Northern and Western States. Mules are 
much preferable for working stock. At the South they stand work better 
and are less expensive and less subject to disease than horses. They can 
subsist on joint grass and crop grass pastures, after the crop is laid by and 
will keep fat on very little corn. Horses, on the contrary, must be fed 
daily and curried, or they will become very poor. 

Good fences have to be maintained to prevent mules from breaking out 
of their pastures, when they are very troublesome to the owner and to the 
neighborhood in general. Mules live longer than horses. A mule will do 
good work at fifteen years of age. When horses commence to fail from 
age, mules are just in their prime. I have had the management of a great 
many mules and horses, in different States and various plantations, and for 
all plantation work prefer mules. I would select black mare ranles, having 
short neck, short back, small less, and holding the head high. An excellent 
way to select a good mule or horse from a drove, is to notice those which 
keep nearest to the drover who leads the drove when upon the road. I 
ascertained this when traveling with a drove from Woodford County, 
Kentucky, to Augusta, Ga. 

Mules have been greatly improved in size since the year 1830. They 
are also now more docile and easier broken to work than formerly. Some 
few planters object to very large mules. If a mule is "put up" well the 
larger they are the better. A small mule will tire down with an ordinary 
load, while a large mule will be traveling with ease. For any kind of work 
give me a large mule. 



65 



HOG RAISING IN THE SOUTH. 

Hogs require more water than any other stock, as they unist have it not 
only to drink but to wallow in. The best location then for raising them 
is on a never failing stream. Next, the planter should have an abundance 
of open land to be sowed down in small grain, from time to time, during 
the year. He should cultivate an orchard, and plant yearly a pea patch 
and root crops, potatoes, chufas, ground peas, beets, carrots and turnips. 
Cabbage leaves and stalks, and long collards, are useful. All the above- 
mentioned are fine food for hogs. And during the Summer months, crop 
grass pastures will prove an assistance. Hogs thus fed will thrive much 
faster than those which run at large in the forests. With proper manage- 
ment these animals can be raised in the Southern States, with the use of but 
very little corn. The stock minder should pen them every night. Sows 
and their pigs, and also the shoats, should each class have separate pens 
and should be fed separately. Each pen should have good pine straw beds 
and be covered with boards for shelters. At the end of every two 
months, the manure and straw should be thrown into heaps outside the 
pens, a small quantity of unslaked lime thrown upon them to facilitate de- 
composition, and the straw renewed in the pens. 

Hogs should be greased once in two months with a mixture of tar, grease 
and salt. Give them a small portion of this mixture in their corn once a 
week. It will prevent disease. I never lost hogs from cholera while I 
pursued this course. Hogs should be carefully marketed at the proper age. 
Sows that have pigs should be pastured near the dwelling. 

Much has been said about hog raising and the different breeds of hogs. 
Before the war I tried several breeds, but since the war have raised very few 
of any kind. On the other hand I have lost a great many by theft. Boiled 
food is excellent for hogs. The food should be thoroughly cooked in large 
pots, with covers to prevent waste by evaporation. When the food is suffi- 
ciently boiled, remove the fires and allow it to grow cold. Boil in the morn- 
ing and feed at night. Procure long, wide and deep troughs, sufficiently 
large to hold a quantity, and each animal may secure his share. Then 
they will lie down quietly in their pens and the food will prove more nutri- 
tious. One-third less corn will keep them in much better order than if the 
whole amount were fed to them raw in the ordinary way. 

Hogs will increase very fast if well attended, and a few treated with skill 
will pay much better than double the number if neglected. A sow should 
not be allowed to carry more than six pigs, and four would be still better. 
She will raise this number much better, wean them sooner, they will make 
laiger hogs, while the sow herself will thrive and breed faster. 

In boiling food for hogs, a small portion of hickory ashes and sulphur 
should be put into the pot, and also just enough salt to season the mess. 

The Chester is a large white hog which can be fattened at any age, and 
will grow very large if well fed. These will not root for a living. They 
must be fed and good pastures provided for them. 

The large Guinea is a valuable breed and does well when crossed with 
9 



66 

the Berkshire. The best breed of hogs I have ever raised was black, with 
large body, small, short legs. These suit our climate well, are more healthy, 
less subject to mange than white hogs, will thrive on less food and not so 
apt to get into mischief. 

Hog raising is a good and paying business if well managed, none better. 
Should a planter wish to have a large stock to make it profitable, he must 
have a stock minder to follow the hogs and guard them through the day, 
and pen them at night. He must also have a high picket fence around the 
hog lot to protect them at night. Such care is absolutely necessary in the South- 
ern States now. The stock minder must devote his time and attention exclus- 
ively to his business. With a large stock it will pay to hire a man to do 
this. With only a few hogs they must be pastured near the dwelling house, 
must be penned at night and noticed closely during the day. They must 
be penned on Sundays, and when the master is absent from home. They 
must be watched closely in the present condition of the Southern States, and 
in some sections it is almost impossible to raise hogs, or keep them when 
raised. 

The piney wood, long-nosed hog is a very industrious variety of this 
animal. They can live by rooting, with but little corn, barely sufficient to 
make them familiar with the hand that feeds them. They pay better than 
any other breed in the piney woods, wire grass and nut grass counties. 



CATTLE RAISING AT THE SOUTH. 

The Durham and Devon are generally regarded as the most valuable 
species of imported stock. Both thrive well at the South, after the first 
year, if liberally fed, but they must be acclimated before they will thrive. 
Both species do well to be crossed with the common stock of the country. 
Their offspring thrive on less food, and are adapted to the climate. The 
Devons make the best oxen, as they are more active and docile, and more 
easily broken to the yoke. They make also the finest milch cows. 

The Durhams are more profitable for beef, as they attain a larger growth. 
Both species require to he housed in winter, and are expensive at the South, 
where neither clover nor blue grass pastures are found. Both species grow 
to a great size in the Northern and Western States ; but it may be ques- 
tioned whether our native stock are not better suited, on the whole, to our 
condition, and, therefore, more profitable. It is true, they are utterly use- 
less and become wretchedly poor in the winter, and some die therefrom 
every season ; but they recover fast when the woods are burnt off early in 
the spring and the tender grass shoots forth, and their cost is absolutely 
nothing to their owners A small stock is more remunerative at the South 
than a large number. 



et 



SHEEP. 

A few Sheep may prove profitable at the South by the use of rye lots and 
pastures in the spring, placed near the dwelling house, where they may be 
watched and guarded from the dogs. They will not prove profitable when 
allowed to run at large in the woods. In a wire-grass country, thinly inhab- 
ited, if the proprietor understood and delighted in his business. Sheep 
raising on a large scale, for market, would, in all probability, prove very 
profitable. Then a shepherd must be employed to attend them through the 
day and to bring them home at night. Sheep have to be fed during the 
winter, and field peas and hay are the best food for them. Tn a cotton 
country, the crop grass will be found useful. They must be changed fre- 
quently from one pasture to another, or they will become unhealthy. Sheep 
impoverish land more than any other stock, since they eat the grass down 
even with the surface. 

The Merino Sheep have the finest wool, but they are small. The South 
Down is larger and has fine wool, but not as fine as the Merino. There is 
but little difterence in the value of the two breeds ; both make fine, sweet 
mutton when fat. The New Wexford are the largest Sheep, and far the best 
to be raised for market. Their size is great, the wool long and coarse, but 
double the quantity of the other Sheep. This animal, like all stock, and 
indeed every business, requires constant attention. Neither stock nor busi- 
ness will prosper, and especially at the South, where provisions are scarce 
and high priced. No food is healthier nor more delicious than good fat 
mutton. Therefore, every planter should have a few for his own use. Were 
there fewer dogs and more Sheep, the Southern country would be greatly 
benefitted. 



PRODUCTIONS OF GEORGIA. 

No State in the Union, and perhaps no country in the world, possesses 
so great a variety of soil and climate, and so extensive a capacity for general 
production, as does the State of Georgia. In addition to all the valuable 
products grown in the Northern, Eastern, Middle and Southwestern States, 
Georgia produces Long and Short Staple Cotton, Indian Corn, Chicken 
and Broom Corn, Rice, Millet, Sugar Cane, Chinese Cane, Sweet Potatoes, 
Irish Potatoes, Chufas, Ground Peas, Field Peas, Beans, Wheat, Rye, Oats, 
Barley, Buckwheat, Watermelons, Muskmelons, Cantelopes, Apples, Peaches, 
Pears, Figs, Pomegranates, Oranges, and all kinds of garden vegetables and 
herbs. Clover and the Grasses do well in the Middle and Northern sections 
of the State. Coffee and Cuba Tobacco might be successfully cultivated 
near the sea coast, if the seed could be procured, and Chewing Tobacco in 
the Northern part of the State. 

There are also a large variety of smaller fruits and nuts, which either grow 
spontaneously or can be cultivated with success. Among these are Plums, 



68 

Cherries, Mulberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, Whortleberries, 
Gooseberries, Walnuts, Hickory Nuts, Pecan Nuts, Chesnuts, Grapes, Mus- 
cadines, «fcc. Considerable quantities of Wine, Brandy, Whiskey, Rum, 
Cider and Lager Beer are made. 

Although not strictly a stock-raising State, large numbers of Horses, 
Mules, Cattle, Hogs, Sheep and (ioats might be raised. 

Quite a number of mines of Gold, Iron and Copper are being worked, 
and beds of Lime, Coal and Marl are found in many places. The upper 
part of the State furnishes a number of fine Sulphur and Chalybeate Springs, 
and is unsurpassed for healthfulness. 

Georgia abounds in creeks and rivers, which afford excellent facilities for 
manufacturing purposes. 

When the railroads now contemplated or in process of completion shall 
have been finished, they will render every section of the State accessible to 
travelers and immigrants, and will afford an available outlet for all the sur- 
plus productions, raw and manufactured. 

The possession of these varied elements of wealth and commercial pros- 
perity — the salubrity and healthfulness of the climate, with the many advan- 
tages above enumerated, offer fine inducements to capital seeking investment, 
or to the immigrant seeking a desirable home. Nothing is needed but the 
development of these resources to make Georgia one of the finest countries 
in the world. The devotion of too great an amount of agricultural enter- 
prise and industry to the production of Cotton has hitherto served as a 
drawback on the prosperity of the State. Other specialties receiving the 
same amount of attention would, I think, often net a larger per cent, of 
profit to the planter. 

The loss of so large a number of practical and experienced farmers by the 
casualties of the late war has severely crippled the agricultural prosperity of 
the State, their places being now filled by young and inexperienced men. 
For the past few years, however, a lively interest has been awakened in re- 
gard to the most improved modes of culture, larger amounts of fertilizers 
have been used, and there is reason to hope that Georgia will soon deserve 
more than ever before the proud title of "Empire State of the South." 



CLEARING LAND. 

In clearing land, the trees should be cut as near the surface of the ground 
as possible, and all small growth should be grubbed up by the roots. The 
stumps, when low, will decay sooner, draw less nutriment from the soil for 
their support, and the ground will require less labor in its cultivation. A 
large amount of shrubbing will be dispensed with, and the crop can be 
worked more rapidly and with more ease. There will also be a better 
"stand," and the crop will suffer less from a drouth. In order to keep land 
in good heart and to ensure a good yield every year, planters should com- 
mence fertilizing as soon as the ground is cleared, instead of waiting, as is 
usually done,- until it has become entirely exhausted. 



69 

Land should be cleared in October and November. The timber and 
brush to be burnt should be heaped as uniformly as possible, in order to 
scatter the ashes evenly and over the largest surface. The heaps should be 
burned soon after a rain, so that the heat may not injure the land, and that 
the ashes may penetrate the soil more readily. The soil should be broken 
thoroughly both ways and then harrowed level, to tear the turf in pieces. 

New grounds are generally planted too late, and from this cause, combined 
with imperfect clearing, usually produce but a small yield the first year. If, 
however, the land is cleared as directed above, and is planted early, the yield 
will be much more satisfactory. Having tried both methods, I have no hesi- 
tancy in saying that the plan of cutting down and burning the large trees 
and grubbing up all small growth will be more economical in the end than 
to have them girdled, aud allow them to die and decay gradually. Some 
planters contend that the roots and stumps enrich the soil, but I think it 
poor policy to lose two crops waiting for these to decay. 

There is an old adage, and a true one, that "whatever is worth doing at 
all is worth doing well," and it is as applicable to clearing land as to any- 
thing else. It was always bad policy to have work imperfectly done in time 
of slavery, and now, when labor is so much more expensive, the policy is 
worse. 

Another advantage of the plan recommended, beside those already alluded 
to, is, that the crops will receive no injury from the falling of trees during 
the planting or cultivation. To clear away these obstructions during the 
busy season is often a serious inconvenience to planters. Besides, it is 
sometimes dangerous to labor, in windy weather, in fields where the large 
trees are left standing. These large trees can be cut off near the ground 
with more ease by digging holes near their base for the axemen to stand in. 

The directions above apply more particularly to oak and hickory land, as 
on pine land the larger trees are usually reserved for timber for sawing or 
other purposes. 



ROTATION. 

This would be my method in the Southern and Southwestern Cotton- 
growing States. The first year after clearing, cultivate in Corn and Peas. 
The second year in Cotton, the third in Corn, the fourth in small grain, the 
fifth in Cotton, the sixth in Corn, the seventh fallow, and so on in rotation. 
Where there is sufficient open land, half should rest each year. This would 
ensure good crops and improve the land, and more acres could be cultivated 
to the hand and horse. Lands in this section of country cannot be allowed 
to rest more than one year consecutively, or they will grow up in broom 
sedge, which will impoverish the soil more than one year's cropping. This 
grass is not fit for pasture, while it is difficult to plow, and unless broken up 
in December and harrowed to kill the roots, the land will be difficult to cul- 
tivate the ensuing year. If broom sedge fields are broken late in the spring, 
the land will be so turfy no crop will grow to advantage, while the culture 
will be difficult to horse and man. * 



70 



The Different Species of Lands in the Southern 
States and their Peculiarities. 

Fertile oak and hickory clay lands, containing a stnall proportion of sand, 
are specially adapted to the growth of Cotton, Wheat and Fruits. Good 
"stands" are more easily obtained on them, and they are less affected by 
drought than other soils. Grass and weeds are destroyed with less labor, 
and remunerative yields of almost all crops are more certain. Hoe hands 
can cultivate more on these lands, but plowing is more laborious for man 
and horse. 

Oak and hickory grey, sandy lands, with clay foundation, are best suited 
to the production of Corn, Peas, Potatoes, Oats and Rye. Crops grow off 
and mature earlier on such lands. Cotton stands are generally defective as 
the plants die out during cold spells in spring. These soils are better adapted 
to the cultivation of black seed, long staple Cotton than those containing a 
larger proportion of clay, and more of such lands can be cultivated to the 
plow. 

Red or mulatto pine lands, with clay subsoil, produce good crops of Corn, 
Cotton, long or short staple ; Wheat, Oats, Irish and Sweet Potatoes, Peas, 
Melons, Orchard Fruits, Tobacco ; being, in fact, adapted to almost every 
production of the South. They are easily cultivated — seldom need drain- 
ing, and, when situated in healthful and well watered sections, and accessi- 
ble to towns or railroads, are, I think, the most desirable lands in the 
Southern States. 

Light grey pine lands, with clay foundation, will produce fair crops of all 
the above products, except Wheat and Cotton. They are generally very 
healthful, and on this account as desirable as other kinds possessing greater 
productive capacity. 

River swamps produce finely when planted in Corn and Pumpkins, or 
Rice. Cotton planted on high beds also succeeds well, if the lands are not 
subject to overflow. The Dickson's Prolific and Jones' Six Oaks, long 
staple, are good varieties for such soils. Low lands bordering on these 
swamps are usually difficult to cultivate, and have to be thoroughly drained 
and broken. They do well in Corn and Pumpkins, and also in Cotton, for 
two or three years after being cleared, after which the crop will generally be 
injured by rust. Creek and branch lands produce good crops in Corn, Oats 
and Peas, but, like the foregoing, are subject to rust after a few years culti 
vation in Cotton. 

Salt water marshes, reclaimed by dams and drains, are finely adapted to 
the gr' wth of Cabbage, but should remain uncultivated for twelve months, 
after being drained, in order to allow the salt water to be removed by the 
rains. The soil should be broken thoroughly three times before planting. 

Knobby, broken lands are generally very light, have no foundation, and 
are not susceptible of much improvement. Their cultivation cannot be 
attended with much profit. 



n 

Low, wet pine lands, near the coast, and infested with the saw Palmetto, 
arc barren, and, like the last named, profitless when cultivated. 

Bay lands, in the lower parts of this and other States, produce good crops 
of Long Staple Cotton, Upland Rice, Corn, Peas and Potatoes. They are 
light and spongy, and soon become exhausted. The drains are difficult to 
keep open on account of the quicksand. 

Islands surrounded by salt water have usually a grey, sandy soil, suited to 
the growth of Corn, Potatoes and Melons, and when fertdized with guano 
and marsh muck, bring t-ood crops of Long Staple Cotton. Where the soils 
have a considerable proportion of clay, the crops of Cotton are much finer, 
grow longer, and are not so liable to shed fruit. These islands also produce 
large quantities of Oranges, Lemons, Pomegranates, Figs, &c. 

Mountain lands yield well in Corn and small grain, though they are diflS- 
cult to cultivate. 

Valleys lying between mountains are usually very fertile and healthful, 
producing fine grain crops. They are also well adapted to the cultivation of 
Orchard Fruits and to Stock raising. 

Rocky lands are adapted to Wheat, Corn, Cabbage, Barley, Rye and Oats, 
and are generally fertile and healthful. The cultivation of such soils in- 
volves considerable expense in shoeing stock. When the rocks are so 
numerous as to interfere uiuch with the culture of the crops, deep holes 
should be dug at different spots in the fields, and the rocks should be thrown 
into them and covered. This will be more economical than hauling them 
from the field. 

Pipe clay lands are usually very unproductive, and cannot be brought to 
a high condition of fertility without frequent and heavy manurings. The 
cultivation of these lands is very disagreeable and difficult, as they are too 
hard in dry weather, and too adhesive in wet seasons. These and crawfish 
lands pay but a small per centage of profit when cultivated, and I would 
advise those wishing to invest to avoid these two varieties of soil. 

"Cowhide" lands, as they are called by planters in this State, have a thin 
soil, with a porous subsoil, and are very boggy in the spring. They are 
productive for two or three years, but are soon exhausted uidess fertilized 
every year. They can only be improved by being allowed to rest very fre- 
quently and to grow up in weeds, unmolested by stock. 

Beach hammock land> are productive in Corn and Peas, but not in 
Cotton. They have a coarse, sandy soil, are very grassy, and will usually 
pay best in small grain, or as pastures for stock. They have no foundation, 
and are difficult to be in proved. 

Blue limestone lands in the upper portion of this State aie finely adapted 
to the growth of corn, small grain, clover and grasses, and to stock raising. 
The water is cold and healthful, being specially beneficial to diseases of the 
liver, and exercising a contrary effect on pulmonary aftections. It is said 
to agree better with males than females. 

Freestone lands in the same section produce fine crops of corn, small 
grain, peas, beans and Irish potatoes, but are not sc well suited to clover 
and grasses as the foregoing. The cultivation is less difficult when the 
land is not rocky, and the water is pleasant and healthful for all. Prairie 
lands in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas are difficult to work, have no 
rail timber or firewood, and no water that is palatable or wholesome, plan- 
ters being compelled to use cisterns almost entirely. The crops are very 



Y2 

uncertain, unless the seasons are very regular, and even then the cotton is 
frequently severely injured by rust. On the whole I consider such lands un- 
desirable. 

Canebrake lands in the same States yield large crops of corn and cotton. 
The cane is cut dowu as near the surface as possible, with long, heavy, steel 
blades, in the fall, and burned off during a dry time in Spring. Corn or 
cotton is then planted and cultivated with the hoe. By the close of the 
first year, the roots are sufficiently decayed to permit the use of the plow, 
and the land is scootered up both ways in December or January, and after- 
wards cultivated with the plow. 

Swamp lands lying near the coasts of the cotton States, when they can 
be overflown with fresh water, produce good yields of lowland golden rice. 
When resting they make fine pastures for stock. 

Pond lands, where the lands are stiff, and clay foundation, in the oaky 
woods, make fine corn, and very prolific, close-boiling cotton. Around the 
edges cotton will rust. The edges produce fine fall black oats. 

Fresh water marshes in North Carolina produce fine oats and hay ; no 
other crops planted on such lands will pay. Chalk hills, or lands mixed 
with chalk, will not pay to cultivate. 

I would advise all persons desiring to purchase lands in the Southern 
States to select such as have a good clay subsoil and lie near cities or rail- 
roads, in a healthy, well watered country. Such soils are more suscepti- 
ble of improvement, and the expenses of transporting a crop to market are 
comparatively light. 

I will give a few more practical hints describing why some lands have 
the advantages over other lands, that will retain moisture longer and will 
stand a drought. Pipe clay and crawfish, and cowhide, with thin soil and 
no subsoil near the surface; chalk hills and lands mixed with chalk; high, 
dry, sandy lands on the sea shore and islands adjacent ; and high, dry 
lands where wells go dry eighty and ninety feet deep; and very broken 
lands where the clay is on top of the surface, with very thin soil; and very 
gravelly lands and prairie lands, and sandy hammocks; lands with no sub- 
soil and woods; ponds that go dry early in Spring that were not thoroughly 
ditched early in the fall to keep the water ofl'. All such lands I have 
above mentioned are very thirsty lands. With deep plowing and fertilized 
highly wiih Dixon's Compound, and good management, a lair crop can be 
made. No planter can make a large crop on such lands, if there should 
come a long droui>ht during the summer months. 

Isinglass, river swamp lands, canel-rake lands, oak and hickory level lands 
that have been thoroughly rough drained, with clay subsoil, twelve to fif- 
teen inches below the surface, and high ridge level lands, situated around 
large, open, deep ponds, that have not been ditched, that hold water dur- 
ing summer; and lands situated on branches and creeks, never failing streams 
during summer, and lands, situated on lakes; and a sandy loam, white 
or red mulatto land, with clay twelve to fifteen inches below the surface, 
that have been fertilized for a number of years, good crops can be made 
on such lands, with very little rain, after a stand is procured. I have said 
there is no rule without exceptions, and it is as applicable to lands as any 
thing else. 

There is a great difference in lands in the Southern States in quality and 
value. Many a man has been deceived in buying lands in the South. I 



73 

traveled with a land speculator for several months. I learned from him 
and by traveling and cultivating all the different kinds of lands I have above 
mentioned. If I had not, of course, I would not undertake to describe 
them. Steam plows would pay to break up lands in the Southern States, 
if all obstruction was removed to economize time and labor and break up 
the lands more perfectly, and the sooner they are introduced into the South 
the better for the planters in the Southern States. 



ON BEE HUSBANDRY. 

The following hints on this subject have been furnished by a friend who 
has been very successful in this department of husbandry, having been en- 
gaged in it for forty years. 

Three varieties of bees are raised in the South. The Italian, the yellow- 
striped and the small black bee. The first has the reputation of being 
the hardiest of the three ; though having had no experience with them I 
can give no opinion as to their merits from personal experience. Of the two 
kinds last named, the yellow bee is to be preferred, as they are more easily 
managed and make more and better honey than the other. The black bee 
is easily irritated, difficult to control and lays up more bee bread than 
honev. These bees send forth young swarms from the fifteenth of April to 
the first of June ; sometimes twice during that period, at an interval of six 
or eight weeks between. When this occurs, however, the yield of honey is 
diminished. 

A dry Spring and Summer are most favorable to the production of 
honey, as wet seasons wash the honey dew from the flowers, and render it 
thereby difficult for the bees to collect their supplies. Elevated pine lands, 
with creeks and branches flowing through them, are the best localities for 
this business. The young swarms should be supplied with hives, made of 
inch plank, twelve inches wide and three or three and a half feet long. 
Three small notches should be made at the bottom of the hive, in front, for 
the passage of the bees. The top should be made to slide to afford access 
for the removal of the worm. Swarms generally collect on a tree or shrub, 
from which they may be raked into the hive, after being sprinkled with 
water. The hives should be placed upon an open platform, sheltered above 
and a space of three feet should be left between them. 

The worm is the most formidable enemy to contend with in bee raising. 
It is about the size of a young wasp, and conceals itself in the corners of 
the hive, and if not removed will drive out the bees eventually. The slide 
should be drawn, when they may be taken out with a knife or stick. The 
platform for the hives should be two feet from the ground. 

From all the facts which I have gathered in relation to the loss of bees, 
the greatest loss is sustained, not in the coldest sections, but in those[States 
where the most sudden changes occur. A colony of bees must have suffi- 
cient strength to maintain the requisite heat for their safety. The owner 
10 



74 

must aid them in preserving their numbers, for in strength of number is 
their security from cold. 

When bees are wintered out of doors, many bees are enticed from the 
hive by the bright sun, in mild and pleasant weather. Soon they become 
chilled and perish. The cluster by degrees becomes smaller and smaller, 
and can no longer maintain the requisite temperature when a cold extreme 
succeeds the pleasant weather. When bees remain in their hives for months 
the cluster does not decrease, but, on the contrary, is often found to have 
actually increased by the Spring; for when food and warmth are abundant, 
brood rearing commences in December, and numbers of young bees swell 
the swarm by April. 

An early Spring is most favorable to bees. One swarm in a year to each 
hive is sufficient. 

To prevent them from swarming more than once a year : So soon as a 
swarm issues, remove the parent hive several yards from its place and set a 
new hive where it formerly stood. The greater part of the matured bees 
will find their way into the new hive, and that will become very strong, 
while the old hive will contain few except young bees, and no after swarms 
will issue. All hives should be well ventilated at the top for the free pas- 
sage of air and the escape of moisture. 

The quantity of honey necessary to the safety of a colony through the 
winter must vary much with locality and season. No hive should, however, 
contain less than thirty pounds at the close of the season of production. 
It is better to allow too much than too little, as the greatest consumption 
commences in the Spring for brood rearing ; and if the supply be scanty, 
but little brood will be reared until flowers bloom. Where the supply of 
honey is insufficient, bees should be fed during winter with sugar, and let 
the supply be so regular as to seem to the bees like their own stores. Feed- 
ing should commence when bees first cease to find honey out of doors, and 
continued so regularly that they may never want until blossoms open in 
the Spring. No one should go to the expense of feeding a colony weak in 
numbers, unless the hive can be kept in some cellar or room where the 
temperature will remain above the freezing point. 

The Italian bee is said to be more hardy than the common varieties. 
It is also more prolific, and rears more brood under the same circumstances, 
and thus go into winter quarters with a stronger garrison. Their ability to 
gather honey from plants which the other bees do not visit, is a great ad- 
vantage in poor seasons. This is a most profitable pursuit if well managed 
and in a suitable locality. 



75 



LARGE, DEEP, OPEN PONDS. 

I have said, in one of my chapters, that large, deep, open ponds should 
never be touched with spade or plow below high water mark. My large 
experience on this point induces me to write a chapter upon it ; and the 
subject is not without interest, as a considerable portion of the South- 
ern country abounds in these ponds, and the suggestion to drain them 
is very plausible. 

The first plantation I ever owned came into ray possession in 1828. 
in Gordon District, Burke County, Georgia. The district took its name 
from ray uncle, John B. Gordon. It lay in Friar's Pond Settlement, 
about five miles long and from three to four miles in breadth. About one- 
fourth of the surface is covered with ponds, foiming a perfect chain. 
About one-third of my plantation was covered with these, with not such 
fall to drain them, and high ridges lying between them. These ponds 
I undertook to drain, and for this purpose employed several Greek labor- 
ers, several successive winters, in ditching. I spent more in reclaiming 
these lands than the plantation was worth. It proved to be time and money 
thrown away. One pond having more fall than the rest, I succeeded in 
draining sufficiently to break up and plant. But found it would produce 
neither corn nor cotton. When dry, the land was too hard ; when wet, 
too adhesive. In some places the corn and cotton would spring up then 
die, from the sour water soaking in from the higher grounds. The water 
lying upon it so long had destroyed the productiveness of the soil. I 
found it would produce nothing but pond grass and water weeds. When 
left full of water these ponds make fine pastures for stock during the Spring 
and Summer months. I am satisfied they were never intended by Provi- 
dence to be cultivated. Where large, deep, open ponds abound there are 
no natural water courses, branches or creeks. One pond overflows at the 
lowest point into another, somewhat lower, in the wet seasons of Winter 
and Spring. They were designed to supply the wants of cattle, fish and 
fowls, and to absorb and drain the water from the high ridge lands con- 
tiguous to them. They are more valuable for these uses than for culture, 
in a region five miles square, in other respects destitute of water. Where 
they are drained the ditches must occupy a considerable portion of bet- 
ter land. And it will prove a burdensome tax to keep such extensive 
ditches open, and bushes and trees on each side of the ditches grubbed 
up every year. Many of the stock also fall into these ditches in dry sea- 
sons when seeking water, and many perish ; some for want of water where 
the ponds have been drained, and others from falling into the ditches. 

It would not pay in the Southern States, where lands are so cheap, to 
make covered ditches, even in the time of slavery, much less would it pay 
now. 

I sold my place in 1842 to my uncle, John B, Gordon, and in Novem- 
ber, 1843, went and took charge of Major W. W. Stark's, Mobly Pond 
Plantation, in Screven County, Georgia, t had two plantations to overlook. 
Major Stark had just finished ditching his Mobly Pond place. The poad 



76 

was seven miles around. The Major spent twenty thousand dollars in 
ditching that pond. He was very rich and money was no object to him. 
He had a canal cut through a high ridge of land, lying between the pond 
and the Savannah river, and emptying in the Savannah river at a consider- 
able distance. He had a mill house built on this canal, thinking the springs 
from the pond would always run the mill. But the pond was so thoroughly 
ditched, when the water began to run, the pond went perfectly dry, and the 
mill house therefore proved useless. 

Cross ditches were cut two feet deep throughout, even the deepest part of 
the pond delivering their water into the main canal. This canal was the 
deepest I ever saw in the whole Southern States. The men had to erect two 
scaffolds, one above the other, before they could bring the earth from the 
bottom of it to the surface. This was done for a considerable distance, 
and several hands were employed in raking the earth back from the edges 
of the canal. When the water was let off, persons came for miles around 
to procure fish, and some of the largest fresh water fish, and no end to 
quantity, were cauofht. After the water ran off, the Major undertook to 
cultivate the soil. Ditches were dug in every direction, discharging into 
the canal and railroad tracks laid from the high lands, to bring in soil from 
the hill sides, and scatter over the surface of the pond. And after all the 
pains taken and expense, the cultivation would not pay. More money was 
spent on the pond tlian the plantation could be sold for, and finally the 
Major had to give it up. The ditches filled up by cattle crossing them, 
and in a short time the pond was full of water again. 

The high ridge lands produced better crops before the pond was drained, 
and the surrounding inhabitants had better health. The pond was so large 
and deep it seldom went dry, in the driest seasons, before the canal was 
cut. 

Oak lands, in the vicinity of ponds, produce fine corn, cotton and oats, 
but are not so well adapted to the cultivation of wheat and rye. They are 
hard to cultivate, being generally very stiff, and cotton will rust in their 
neighborhood. They pay much the best to fence them in for pastures. A 
pond region is the most disagreeable to reside in. The water is generally 
very unwholesome, and the residents are generally annoyed by musquitoes, 
gnats and sand flics, and by the croaking of frogs at night ; and in the fall 
they suffer from chill and fever, bilious fevers and diarrhoeas ; and all per- 
sons, male and female, who reside long in such a region, if they spend their 
summers there, become subject to enlargement of the liver and spleen, the 
result of oft-repeated chills and fevers, which oftentimes terminate in drop- 
sies. 

In very dry seasons, as for instance, in 1839, 1845 and 18G6, most of the 
ponds go dry and cause a great deal of sickness. I do not wish these re- 
marks to be misapplied to all drainage. 

Small ponds in the midst of forest growth, and flat, wet lands that be- 
come dry early in Spring ; all such lands should be thoroughly drained, 
and the water never allowed to remain on them long enough to become 
sour. The flrst of September is the proper time to ditch them, and if tho- 
roughly drained, broken deep and early, they will prove highly productive. 
It is reported that a pond of this kind was, after it was ditched, kept per- 
manently dry by a well forty feet deep, sunk below a quicksand, and which 
had been dug in the centre of the pond to afford water for the cattle in 



tbe month of August, 1839. This happened in the Fifth District, Houston 
County, Georgia. 

All personsresiding in pond regions should build cisterns. Pond water 
is very unhealthy, and in many places the wells become stagnant in Sum- 
mer, and have to be cleaned out frequently and the water drawn off, or they 
will be full of tadpoles. 

Mr. J. W. James, of Burke County, (ieorgia, resides within one hundred 
yards of a large open pond that covers three or four hundred acres. He 
has cisterns for his family and for his freedmen. I was at his house in 
August, 1869, and spent a day and night with him. There was no sickness 
at that time on the place, not even a single case. I drank some cold, 
pure water from his cistern, and Mr. James assured me that he had but little 
sickness since he had built his cisterns, whilst before he had a great deal 
of sickness and lost many of his blacks in slavery. Himself and family 
also were more or less sick every Spring, Summer and Fall, and even in 
winter were more subject to diseases, from being so constantly sick during 
the Summer and Fall. I give the foregoing as my experience in relation 
to ponds. 



ON FENCES. 

A straight post and rail fence is the cheapest, strongest and most pleas- 
ing to the eve. It will last longer and occupy less space than the Virginia 
worm fence.' Planters in Kentucky generally build these fences where 
the timber is suitable, and they would prove the best fence in the Southern 
cotton-growing States. White oak, post oak, sassafras, locust and light 
wood make the best posts. White, red and Spanish oak, chestnut and 
long leaf pine are most suitable for rails. The posts should be dipped in 
coal tar to the depth inserted into the ground. This will retard decay and 
keep out wood lice. 

The post and rail fences in Kentucky are generally six or seven rails high, 
the bars from six to ten inches wide. Large trees are cut down and quar- 
tered, then split out as for puncheons about two or three inches thick. All 
the cuts are sawed ten feet and a half in length, and they are lapped three 
inches at each end where they enter the posts, after dubbing off the thick 
edges. This makes each panel ten feet long from centre to centre of posts. 
The posts are laid down and confined upon a platform, then bored out at 
the proper distances by a two-inch augur. The augur is worked with a 
long crank and heavy iron wheel, which renders the task of boring much 
lighter. These holes should be bored and the plugs knocked out before the 
posts are seasoned. But the posts should be seasoned before they are put 
in Ihe ground. They will thereby be the lighter to handle and much more 
lasting. Hawthorne, Cherokee rose and other plants, sent from the North 
for live fences, will not answer for the South. Many planters have tested 
this fact. They take too long to grow, occupy too much space, and it is 
too great a tax to trim them twice a year. In very dry hot summers, like 
1839, 1845 and 1866, they die oat and are then liable to be consumed by 



78 

fire. I have never seen a live fence at the South so perfect that they could 
be depended on to keep out stock. Near a city where there is not much 
stock, a ditch and dam, with short posts and two planks high, would be 
sufficient to keep them out. Have the soil thrown up high and make the 
fence on the ditch bank. This would be the cheapest fence that could be 
devised where timber is scarce, and on low, wet lands the fields would be 
thoroughly drained by the ditches. 

For a live fence at the South I would propose plants thoroughly adapted 
to our soil and climate. As for instance, I would recommend China ber- 
ries to be sown thick upon the ditch's bank, inside the field and ditch. 
Sow in the month of April, and in three or four years the young China 
trees growing up thick would make a good substantial fence. The old 
field plum tree also treated in the same manner, might be made highly 
useful as a live fence. Both trees grow fast and upon very poor land. The 
plum tree, moreover, is thickly covered with thorns. To make a fence 
the sooner, they might be set out thick upon the bank of the ditch. They 
are hardy plants, and when set out they would grow oS" rapidly. If they 
have to be sowed, sow the entire fruit with the seed. 

China berries ground fine make a valuable manure, and are excellent 
food for stock. The berries ground and mixed with soot is a valuable appli- 
cation, sown broadcast over a kitchen garden. Besides its value as a fer- 
tilizer, it destroys cut worms and bugs. The plums are excellent food for 
hogs. 

The Florida plum is much earlier than those raised in the upper part of 
Georgia, Near a city, as Augusta, for instance, a planter might cultivate 
both varieties, and so supply the markets with both early and late. Neither 
plum nor China trees will die out like those plants sent to us from the 
Noith at high price.*. 

The Virginia worm lence takes too much timber and hard labor to con- 
struct them, and occupy too much land. Besides, if not built up with 
care and well braced, they are liable to be blown down, which entails extra 
labor, and when the growing crop is exposed to destruction from the intru- 
sion of stock. If rails are split from sapling timber, they will last but a 
very short time. Some planters are in favor of a law to have no fencing. 
But I prefer a fence and a good fence. Such a law could never meet with 
success in the Southern States, though it might perhaps be beneficial on the 
sea islands, surrounded by marshes and rivers. It is difficult to preserve a 
crop, particularly a provision crop, until it matures, even if well fenced. 
Near a city it is almost impossible. Not only would a field, unprotected 
by fence, be damaged by stock, but rogues, white and black, prowling about 
and doing nothing, would find it still more convenient to make their living 
by theft. 

Many planters, since slavery has been abolished, split their rails from the 
sapling timber, leaving the large trees and belting them. These injure the 
crops very seriously the first and second year after they are killed. But the 
large trees can be split at very trifling expense by the use of gunpowder. 
To do this, hire a man that understands blasting, and set him to split the 
cuts open with gunpowder, and where the trees are very large to split them 
into quarters. Two men will then very easily split them into rails. These 
large trees make the best of rails, which will last four times as long as those 
split from saplings. 



79 

The saplings should be left to grow into large trees, especially where tim- 
ber is scarce. No country in the world, with but few exceptions, abounds 
more in timber than the Southern States. Yet we constantly hear the cry 
of no timber raised. Much timber, no doubt, has been wastefully burned 
which would now possess a high value had it been preserved. 

I will now give my opinion as to the best method of removing trees and 
their stumps, and especially the long leaf pine, from the land. Cut the trees 
off even with the ground and split them into rails. The fat lightwood will 
make a fence which will last fifteen years, or perhaps even more. That 
which will not make rails will make fire and cord wood. Then, about the 
1st of September, dig around each stump eighteen inches deep, with a long, 
broad grubbing hoe, and remove every root to that depth, so that they will 
never interfere with the plow. Then, with a two inch augur, bore a hole 
just below the surface, nearly through each stump; if the stumps are very 
large, bore two holes across each other. Stop these holes with oak plugs, 
fitting very tightly the augur holes, and bore gimlet holes a^^ain through 
these to admit the gunpowder. Fill your holes and surround your stumps 
with fat lightwood and seasoned wood, mixed ; apply a slow match and split 
open the stumps, when they may be burned out by setting fire to the wood 
around them. 

It would be a great advantage to Southern planters, in the economy of 
time and labor, to have all such obstructions removed from the action of the 
plow and hoe. Besides the damage to plows and hoes done by these ob- 
structions, many hills of Corn and Cotton arc lost by the space which they 
fill up; or the stocks are broken down in driving round the stumps, and 
much time also is lost. The stumps of the long leaf pine never decay. 
Near a city it might pay to get an improved stump-puller, to take them up 
and haul them for fuel ; but at a distance from city or rail road, it wouM be 
cheaper to blow them into pieces with gunpowder and afterward burn them. 
This can be done in a very short time, and one crop would pay all the 
expense. When lightwood stumps and trees are very thick in a field, I think 
I may safely say one-half the time is lost from these obstructions every year. 
Besides this loss of time, many other disadvantages result. The land can- 
not be manured to any advantage ; the trees and branches fall and seriously 
damage the crop. In crop time these cannot be removed, so there they lie, 
increasing still farther the difficulties to cultivate; and when they lie long 
on the earth they become sobbed, and burn with difficulty when they finally 
come to be cleared up. Few planters, I fear, have ever made the calcula- 
tion, or even given a thought to the losses sustained from these causes. 
And I have often felt surprised why planters in the Southern States did not 
set themselves to remove these obstructions, especially where the pitch pine 
abounds. In slavery, loss of time and taking advantage of work were seldom 
thought of; but now, when labor is so hard to procure and control, it stands 
every planter in hand to take every advant.nge of mind and skill, to save 
time, labor and money. Besides all this, how great is the satisfaction in 
cultivating a field where there are no obstructions. The work is so much light- 
er to man and beast. The two horse plow, the sulkey plow, and all other im- 
proved implements, could then be used to great advantage in the cultivation 
of crops. 



80 



Porcelain Clay Hill in Richmond County, Ga. 

There is a fine hill of Porcelain Clay within fifteen miles of Augusta, 
lying between Pugsley's bridge and Patterson's bri«lge roads, near to Rich- 
mond carap-ground branch. The branch divides the hill. The quantity is 
inexhaustible, and the quality superior to that found at the Kaolin Mills, on 
the Hamburg and Charleston Rail Road, S. C. Mr. Roberson, formerly the 
moulder at these mills, moulded a pitcher for me from this deposit in Rich- 
mond county, and pronounced it a superior material to that used at the Kao- 
lin Mills. 



ON THE PRODUCTION OF TURPENTINE. 

In North Carolina, those who engage in this business set apart seven 
hundred pine trees to each able-bodied and experienced hand — the number 
found saffiiiieut to keep him busy until the close of the season in the month 
of September. They commence in the month of March to box the trees on 
the south side. After they have finished this work, they shave the bark 
from each tree to six feet high. Then they go round with buckets, and with 
scoop remove the virgin dip. Next, with a round shave, they remove the 
bark four feet higher. Then they go round and remove the Turpentine 
again. After this, they box all the trees on the west side ; then remove the 
Turpentine and again shave otf the bark on that side ten feet high, and so 
on through the season. The wetter the season the better for the production 
of Turpentine. 

The Turpentine collected from March to August is kept apart. That made 
afterwards, until it becomes too cold for the Turpentine to run, is called 
second quality, and is kept to itself Both are then barreled and sent to be 
distilled. In slavery, an able-bodied hand could make from two hundred to 
two hundred and fifty dollars a year at this business. In sections adapted to 
the business, they usually box and shave the north and east side of the trees 
the second year, and then those trees are exhausted. But the trees make 
fine lasting rails or posts. Making Turpentine is a very disagreeable, though 
healthful, pursuit. Sappy trees of ordinary size, growing on low, wet lands, 
are most productive. Like all other business, skillful and experienced hands 
must be employed to make it pay, and these must be overlooked constantly 
to insure attention to their work. 



81 



RANGING TIMBER. 

During the existence of slavery this business was extensively followed in 
the low countries of Nortli and South Carolina and Georgia, and part of 
Florida. It was then a raoney-inaking business. The task for No. 1 hands 
was three thousand feet per week. In good timber and fine weather, an 
active hand could finish his task and gain one to two days for himself everv 
week. I have had two years experience in this business, in checking timber 
in Savannah for Roberts, Austen & Co., and I attended to a number of 
hands cutting timber in Scriven and ESingham counties, near Savannah, Ga. 
It is cheaper to hire hands that have been a number of years accustomed to 
this work, at from twenty to twenty-five dollars a month, than to hire green 
hands at eight. I proved this to my satisfaction in Scriven county. I had 
some hands who had been cutting timber for twenty-five years, and some 
that had been cutting from two to three years only. The timber cut by the 
experienced hands would bring twenty dollars per thousand, while that cut 
by the other class would bring only from four;een to fifteen per thousand. 
A timber merchant would never oS"er more than fifteen dollars per thousand 
for a raft containing these twu qualities of timber, mixed ; though the best 
timber in that raft, by itself, would have readily brought twenty dollars. It 
is best, therefore, never to mix first, second and third qualities of timber ; it 
is far better to put each in a raft to itself. An old timber hand, who has 
followed cutting for a number of years, nine times out of ten can choose 
good, sound trees by looking at them and striking them with the back of 
his axe. In knotty trees, where the knots have fallen out, the holes should 
be tightly plugged with lightwood, which should then be sawed ott' smooth 
and even with the hewed edge, [t w^U then pass as good merchantable 
timber. But if carried down in rafts full of deep holes, the inspector and 
timber merchants will condemn it, calling it refuse timber, and will only give 
half price for it. Another advantage in hiring experienced hands is, that 
their timber is cut so smooth, square and straight, that it will always bring 
the highest irarket price; for the merchants strive to excel each other, and 
to buy the best timber in market. A raft of first quality will readily sell in 
one day after it reaches Savannah ; while a badly hewed raft will lav some- 
times six or eight days, two hands being employed all that time to watch 
and guard the raft — a great additional expense to the owner. Cutting tim- 
ber is a healthful and agreeable pursuit, if well managed, and the trees are 
near a good stream. The hauling is the worst part of it. The longer and 
larger the trees, the more profitable. Large mules and good drivers are 
necessary to make it pay. 



11 



82 



GUANO AND FERTILIZERS GENERALLY. 

So many certificates and pamphlets have been distributed among the 
Southern planters bearing on this subject, since the conclusion of the war, 
that it is unnecessary that I should attempt a description of the many ferti- 
lizers that are now offered for sale. Every planter has made up his opinion 
as to the value of each. The chemists tell us there is an important differ- 
ence in the adaptation of manures to different soils. T have managed in five 
Cotton States and visited several Northwestern States, and ! think the im- 
portance of these distinctions is exaggerated; for T always observed that 
wherever an old dunghill existed, upon which all refuse matter w^as cast, as 
far as the influence of that dunghill extended every species of produce would 
thrive, which seems to prove that no such great difference exists. Clay is 
good manure for sand; and when clay is near the surface, sand is good ma- 
nure for clay. Many planters grew rich before the war who never used guano 
at all. Where a man has money idle, no corn nor meat to buy, lives near 
to a city or rail road, guano, with good management, will pay. But, when 
a planter has to buy his fertilizers and half his provisions on credit — a con- 
siderable distance to haul these ; has to sell his cotton, whether the price be 
up or down, to pay his commission merchant, and a heavy per centage on 
his loans ; then to give the freedmen half the crop, which many have agreed 
to do this year, (1870). it will not pa i/. 

Planters who reside near to cities or rail roads should buy stable and other 
<'itv manures. Thev could be shipped by rail road, and would be much 
cheaper than guano, while the cities would be much healthier if all kinds of 
refuse capable of making manure were gathered from every part of the towns 
and sent into the country. Such manures could be forwarded in cotton 
bagging sacks. Pitch the sacks with tar and tallow, and they will be pre- 
served a long period. Planters should make all the manure possible at 
home ; also, all their provisions and but little cotton. This course will pay 
in the end. Planters who raise everything have fat stock and everything 
plentiful around them, and a market even at home for everything they have 
to sell. I have always observed that this class of men lived well, were free 
from debt, and had but seldom an urgent want of money. On the contrary, 
those who r.'dsed nothing but cotton and had everything to buy on a credit, 
were generally hard run from one years end to another ; had no money they 
could call their own ; were always in debt above what they were worth. 
They lived hard themselves and their hired men also, and their dumb beasts 
were half starved; while every year their losses of every kind were im- 
mense, and every year they lost horses and mules and other .stock from bad 
treatment and improper management. These evils were common before the 
war, and instead of growing better, things are growing worse every year. I 
do hope there will be a change for the better from this year forward. Those 
who will be able to plant next year will be compelled, in self-defence, to 
plant more corn, raise more meat, and plant less cotton. The price of cotton 
would then rise, money and provisions become more plentiful. 



83 

How can a Southern planter make money when he has nearly everything 
to buy and nothin<;' to sell but low-priced cotton and sorry crops, and then 
has to hire hands at a high price? Let us all to a man buy a small piece of 
land in the right place, on a branch or creek, and near a city or rail road. 
Let us go to work and improve it, and not depend so mich on freedmen to 
make a grand show. Eow is it that planters in the Northwest make a good 
living on a few acres? Only because they go to work and improve them. 



BESLOWS COMPOUND. 

Take seven barrels of dry muck or rich soil, two barrels of bon.- dust, two 
of good strong ashes, two of plaster of Paris or Gypsum, and one hundred 
pounds of salt. Mix these well together. Then dissolve one hundred 
pounds of Sulphate Ammonia, one hundred pounds Nitrate Soda, and one 
hundred pounds of Glauber Salts in one hundred gallons of water. With 
this sprinkle thoroughly the dry mixture. Mix the whole well together ; 
then heap into a compact mass and protect it carefully from sun and rain 
until called for; then apply it in the manner of guano. The muck must be 
perfectly dry when the above solution is applied, that it may retain and 
absorb all the liquid. 

The above makes two tons of Beslow's Compound, and all the ingredients 
cost together about $50. Several planters have applied this Compound this 
year, (1870,) and assert that it will pay as well as any fertilizer they have 
ever used. 



COOKING. 

Since freedom was declared and slavery played out, the subject of do 
mestic service, and especially of Cooks and Cooking, has caused so much 
anxiety and constant conversation, that I have concluded to write a chapter 
on the subject myself. In one word, then, I would advise every Southern 
lady to procure a good cooking stove and cook her own food herself. In 
the fall and winter months, when so many white men and freedmen are 
walking about doing nothing, hire a good axe hand by the job, to cut a suffi- 
cient quantity of stove wood for a year's supply. Let him split, saw to a 
suitable length, and pile it away in a wood-house. One good axe hand will 
cut and pile in this manner a year's supply in much less than a month. 
Blackjack is the best wood, but any kind of oak is good. For kindling 
any well seasoned wood will answer, but poplar and cotton wood are best — far 
better for this purpose than pine. With this preparation Southern women 
can cook for their families with but little toil and annoyance. It will be a 
little awkward at first, but when accustomed to cooking on a stove it will 
seem perfectly natural and a light task. Have wood and water convenient, 
and suitable houses near to or even attached to the dwelling house, and 
Southern people will no longer be compelled to bear the insolence and 



84 

extravagance of liired cooks. The wages and other expenses of hiring a 
cook would almost buy the provisions needed by a small family for a year, 
not to speak of the aggravations every day in the year, the breakage and 
waste, meals out of time and badly prepared. In self-defence, we must cease 
to have so many of these hirelings about us. The expense and trouble 
great — the profit small. If you hire a cook now-a-days, she must have a son 
or daughter to wait upon her exclusively — an additional expense. No 
definite calculation can be made upon her, for she may leave you to-morrow. 
Then she is unwilling to do any other work, and to carry out her notions, 
you must hire one or two more to milk, to wash and iron. You never can 
satisfy any of these in eating; they must have meat three times a day, yet 
they want g ^od wages, and paid at the end of every month. 

I dislike to dwell upon the subject, but, to say the least, those who have 
least to do vyitli them will have most gr(tund to rejoice, both in this world 
antl the world to come. Southern people must change their schedule. 
They never can prosper unless they do, and the soorier the better. Let any 
gentleman or lady take the alternative into serious consideration. How 
great the contrast when everything is done by neat, cheerful hands at home. 
Meals true to time ; the victuals well prepared and thoroughly cooked, and 
therefore, more nourishing and healthy ; fewer to consume, and, therefore, 
provisions more choice and abundant. Northern and Western women, who 
never owned slaves, have been accustomed from childhood to take part in 
the household work. They are, therefoie, not afraid to work, but rather 
take delight in it. They do all the domestic labor, tend the poultry, the 
kitchen garden, and a small tiower garden, and then, for want of something 
to do, often assist their male relatives in the field. They enjoy fine health, 
and to see them on the Sabbath days, with bright rosy cheeks, riding 
their fat horses, with fine saddles and bridles, and dressed in their fine 
clothes going to church, you would not think they had ever cooked a meal 
or did any other work in their lives. In one word, where you find those 
who do their own work there you will find a thriving and plentiful country, 
a clever, happy and contented people. They live in fine cotlage houses and 
have everything plentiful, convenient and comfortable around thciu. 

At the North it is customary to cook enough at one time to supply the 
family for several days with the greater part of its food. This makes the 
labor of cooking much lighter. Cooking three meals every day ought to be 
abandoned. It causes a great deal of unnecessary labor. Cold bread, with 
hot coffee or tea, is much healthier, and when once accustomed to it 
most persons greatly prefer it. 

I have been urged to recommend a good cooking stove and washing ma- 
chine. There are an endless variety of each, and many of them are ex- 
cellent. Some persons think the Philanthropist Stove surpasses every 
other. For ray own small family I bought a No. 7 Texanna Stove. I 
can recommend this for a small family. The pots, oven and all the uten- 
sils are light, handy and easily kept in order, and it requires but little wood 
to supply the stove. The stove can be heated in a very few minutes. My 
wife generally prepares breakfast in fifteen minutes, dinner in half an hour 
and heats water for cofiee or tea at supper in ten minutes. 

Doty's Washing Machine has been highly recommended by parties at 
the South, and can be procured at D. L. FuUerton's, on Broad street, in 
Augusta, and in Atlanta, also. 



m 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 

Steel plows are greatly preferable to iron ones ; and every planter should 
either bu)' them or have them made at home. The plow should be made 
as light as possible and sharp. It is as needful to have good, sharp, steel 
plows, to cut the earth, as it is to have a sharp axe to cut down a tree. 
Steel plows are of much lighter draft than iron. It is also much easier for 
the plowman to hold them^to their proper place. They do their work more 
perfectly and leave the land in better order for the ne.xt plowing. All 
plows should cut from point to point, and run straight and level. They 
should be so arranged as to run shallow or deep upon any kind of soil. 
The solid steel turn plow was invented in Georgia by the Rev. Robert Allen, 
of Richmond County, Ga., in the year 1816. It was a great improvement, 
and was called the Allen plow, from the inventor. 

The planters of Georgia soon laid aside the wooden mould board, and 
the Allen plow has kept its place to the present day. It is as necessary 
to success in raising a variety of crops to put the land into good order, as 
it is to put a horse in good order before he can win a four-mile heat. It is 
equally necessary to the improvement of crops to plant good improved 
seed. The improvement should be kept up from year to year, and to se- 
cure that every planter should, by all means, have a seed house exclusively 
devoted to that purpose. Scaffolds suspended by wires to protect the seed 
from rats and mice, should be constructed in various parts of this house 
and each scaffold marked with the name of the kind of seed it was designed 
to cure. 

Seed should be dried in the shade and well stirred once every day until dry 
enough to be packed away in sacks of different sizes, according to the 
quantity and nature of the seed. Each sack should be marked with the 
name and quality of the seed within, and hung up for safe keeping. All 
seed usually required on a farm should be improved and saved. It is a 
profitable business to save and sell good seed, though somewhat trouble- 
some and requiring very close attention of the party himself There is, how- 
ever, nothing painful or laborious about the business, and every Southern 
planter could save good seed, and constantly improving for nearly every 
crop raised by them with only a small expense of care and attention. It 
would serve their interests well, instead of buying, to have every year seed 
to sell. Too many planters depend upon buying and begging their seed 
when, by a little exertion, they might save better seed at home. Very few 
planters will give away good seed, it is even difficult to buy them. To im- 
prove their seed and thereby their crops of all kinds, planters should ex- 
change with each other. But giving away good seed must before long en- 
tirely cease, in consequence of the many annoyances which attend the bad 
practice. Sometimes a man will make a small present in expectation of a 
large one in return, thus hoping to obtain an unfair advantage, I speak 
from experience. In my judgment, it is better to buy what you need, save 
what you can, keep sA\ you have. If you give anything, let it be to the 



86 

needy, and expect nothing in return. Be sure to take care of No. 1. The 
times have changed, and the people are changed with them. 

In the using of plows and wagons, the draught should be near as pos- 
sible to the horses, yet not to let the swingletrees touch the horse's heels. 

For the same reason, wagons should be coupled closely, unless in a 
muddy country, then the traces must be longer and the wheels further apart. 

Most Southern planters have their plows, carts and wagons, and, indeed 
all tlieir carriages, too clumsy and heavy. There is no economy in the prac- 
tice, at the same time it is cruel and unworthy to burden the poor beasts 
unnecessarily. During the war, and even since, the dumb brutes have been 
most cruelly treated. They have been given to man by his Creator, and 
they are extremely valuable to him, and all who starve and abuse them 
will have to give an account for it in the day of judgment. It is a shame 
and a crime for the dumb brutes to be treated as they have been from 1861 
to the present time. 

No planter in the Southern States can prosper who has everything to 
buy and nothing to sell in exchange but cotton. It is impossible. 
It was impossible in slavery, still more impossible now. It is impos- 
sible to give the freedmon one-half the crop, as many do, and yet 
make any clear money, even upon laud of first quality and with good man- 
agement. With bad management and upon second quality of land, the 
planter must fall in debt, as all such will this year, 1870. Let all then who 
shall be able to farm in 1871 plant all their provisions, and only enough 
cotton to pay their taxes, and buy salt, coffee, sugar, iron, shoes and cloth- 
ing. This will be the only safe course for the Southern people. 

I have touched upon the various soils of chief importance, found in the 
Southern country, in a previous chapter. Let me here recapitulate briefly. 
I have said that red mulatto pine lands, with clay foundations, level, six or 
eight miles from a city, or two from a railroad, on a branch or creek, and 
in a healthy section, are the most desirable localities for the settler. The 
neighborhood of Augusta, Macon or Columbus, Georgia, Columbia, S. C, or 
Goldsboro, N. C, taking all advantages into consideration, I consider the 
most desirable in the United States. But land of inferior quality, thirty or 
forty miles from a city, or railroad, and poorly supplied with water, to say 
nothing of buying such land, I would not accept a plantation so situated 
if I had to live and pay taxes upon it. 

1 would advise never to buy land in a sickly, snaky, frog pond country. 
Buy a place near to a city or a railroad, by all means. A long journey to 
market, apart from other disadvantages, will never pay. And if the plan- 
ter has to buy guano, and one-half of his corn and meat, one fourth of his 
time is lost in hauling, and that too, when his stock should be at home pre- 
paring the land for a crop. The stock also will be too much worn with ex- 
tra work to be in condition to make a full crop, and if the master goes 
with his teams, all his agricultural interests will suffer during his absence. 



SI 



PLANTING COTTON BY MACHINE. 

I prefer the board for covering cotton to any machine, and the dibble is 
the best instrument for planting. It requires few seed to plant a crop, and 
all that are left can be applied to fertilize your corn. Cotton seed is the 
best and surest fertilizer that can be used. It is much better than guano. 
There is no manure equal to cotion seed for corn and for the garden. Early 
corn can be greatly improved by fertilizing with cotton seed, and all plan- 
ters and n.ardeners should save seed of early corn instead of buying it every 
year, as is the habit, at ten cents a piece for a small nubbin. A very high 
jprice for seed corn ; for it will take three hundred of these nubbins to make 
a bushel ; thirty dollars therefore a bushel instead of saving it at home. I 
have planted the early Northern corn in Richmond County, Georgia, two 
vears. It matured as early as it would in Pennsylvania, and as early the 
second year as the first, and actually improved. The ears are now much 
larger than those originally planted. 

It would serve a good purpose to plant a field of early corn, and also of 
early peas, every year. Both will bring a high price in market, and the 
planter would have an extra early field to turn his stock upon. And if he 
had early corn to sell at five cents an ear, it would bring fifteen dollars a 
bushel; a money-making business, yet only half the price at which it is sold 
in the seed stores of our cities. 

Southern men should endeavor to save their dimes and half dimes, and 
in the course of the year they will amount to many dollars. There is more 
profit in prudent care and economy than in a large production. And if ever 
there is a time to practice these virtues, that time has arrived to the South- 
ern people generally. 

Red clay and red gravel is the preferable color as a foundation of a soil. 
Where such a foundation is found, the water is better and the lands gener- 
ally more productive. I would prefer the soil to be clear of gravel, but 
would ever prefer a good red clay foundation. A soil with clay twelve or 
fourteen inches below the surface will retain manure and moisture, and may 
thus be rapidly improved. There is a species of fine red sand so closely 
resembling clay, that one without experience in this matter might be easily 
deceived into the idea that he had a clay foundation where, in reality, there 
is only a porous sand throuoh which both manure and water will readily 
make their escape. 

To improve the soil steadily and to ensure productive crops yearly, a clay 
foundation is indispensable. The readiest way to determine whether a sub- 
soil is clay or merely red sand, is to apply a fragment to the tongue, and, 
if clay, it will adhere closely. Or wet a small portion and breathe upon it, 
and if clay it will emit a strong odor. Or pour a little alcohol or nitric 
acid on a fragment when dry, and if it is sand it will crumble and fall to 
pieces like sand brick. The purchaser should be cautious not to mistake 
the fine red sand for a red clay foundation. 

In the lower counties along the seaboard, throughout the cotton States, 
where the long moss hangs thick from the oak trees, the atmosphere is 



88 

heavy and damp, but highly productive in all crops, decidedly the best 
lands for either long or short staple cotton, but generally sickly. I have 
done business in these low and sickly counties, in several States, but ex- 
perienced much sickness, had heavy doctors' bills to pay and several times 
to quit business and resort to the blue limestone regions, or the Sulphur 
Springs, to recover health. None but those who have tried both can form 
any idea or estimate of the ditference between a healthy and sickly country. 
Let those who are making a comfortable living in a healthy region remain 
where they are, for riches are worthless without good health. lean recom- 
mend Richmond County, Ga , in which the city of Augusta is situated, as 
a fine, healthy region. 



CONCLUSION. 



So much has been written by scientific planters at the South of them- 
selves and their achievements, perhaps it may be permittetl a plain prac- 
tical planter to give here a plain narrative of what he has done. When 
a small boy I plowed for my uncle, John B. Gordon. I superintended for 
him the feeding of his stock, the locking up of houses and the other regu- 
lar daily work of a farm. From that period to the present I have made 
farming my study and delight. I had a natural talent and fondness for it. In 
the year 1828 I went on a farm of my own and planted for myself. I 
usually made from five to six bales of cotton to the hand and abundance 
of corn, and ray stock were generally in good condition. Yet I used no 
manures but those furnished by the plantation, ashes, stable manure and 
cotton seed. But I had imprudently settled upon a pond plantation, 
where I had sickness every summer and fall, doctors' bills to pay and waste 
of property in traveling to recruil mv health. I resolved therefore to sell 
out, and did so in 1843. I then went down to Screven County, Ga., and took 
charge of Major W. W. Stark's plantation, called Mobly Pond. I re- 
mained there from October until the following January, when I took 
charge of Major Stark's plantation, below Savannah, on Skidaway Island. 
I remained there two years, 1844 and 1845. I used Peruvian Guano on 
this place and mud from a salt-water creek. This last application is ad- 
mirably adapted to long staple cotton. The plantation was out of order 
"w^hen I came on it — ditches, dams and trunks. By Major Stark's orders 
I attempted the cultivation of cotton with the plow, as 1 had been accus- 
tomed to do in the up country. It made abundant weeds, but did not 
yield as much cotton as those crops cultivated entirely with the hoe. 

I made a fine crop of corn on Skidaway, .so that I had corn to sell to 
the neighbois. 

In the year 1846 I went to Alabama, where I made a fine crop. In 
1847, I went over into Mississippi, near Chulu River, a prong of the Ya- 
zoo. I made there more than the hands could gather. I fell into bad 
health, however, and in 1848 went to Kentucky and spent the summer. In 
November of that year I returned South and spent the winter in New 



89 

Orleans, and afterward in the State, for in January, 1849, I took charge of 
a sugar estate below Bayou Sara. 

In March tho levees gave way, the country was deluged, and I took a 
steamboat and left for Savannah once more. There, as I already have said, 
I was employed by Roberts, Austen & Co., to check timber. 

In 1850 1 entered into an engagement with John S. Green, of Screven 
County, to superintend a gang of negroes, who were getting out ranging 
timber for the Savannah market. Tlie next year I returned to the scenes 
of my youth, and took charge of two cotton ])lantations for Elisha Allen, 
of Burke County. I made him a good crop on each of his plantations. 
Mr. Alien had agreed to find myself and horse, and to pay me four hund- 
red dollars. At the close of the year he gave me five hundred, saying I 
had richly earned the ditference. I had done a great deal of extra work 
on both his places. 

Afterward, I visited North Carolina, where I managed a cotton plantation 
a part of the year for a Mr. VVoottcn, of Lenoir County, ten miles from 
Goldsboro. Mr. W. had just commenced the cultivation of cotton, the 
turpentine business in that part of the State being nearly exhausted. Five 
liands were retained at the turpentine business, seventy were engaged in 
making cotton. Mr. Wootten was anxious for me to remain with him. The 
planters in North Carohna had but little experience in making cotton. 
They made fine cotton, but planted very little to the hand. They manured 
their cotton with fresh water muck, oyster shells, lime and salt, and some 
of the planters prefer that compound to guano. 

Cotton seed, 1 repeat it, is still the best fertilizer for corn. 1 prefer it to 
guano or any other manure that ever has been applied. 

After leaving North Carolina, I again returned to Burko, where I man- 
aged for Mr. A. J. Lawson, and his son, John F. Liwson, on two adioinin<y 
plantations. I made them fine crops of corn and cotton. I attended to 
all extra work of Judge Lawson's plantation, clearing land, ditching and 
building houses. During the second year of my engagement with Jud^-e 
Lawson and his son I bought the plantation, which I still own. I bought 
also four hands, and during the next I wo years made a crop on my own 
place, though I continued to manage for Messrs. Lawson. At the end of 
the fourth yeai I quit business for others and m<'ved home to my dwn 
place. I had not plowed now for twenty years, but I now returned to the 
plow handles. With five other hands and a sorry team I made thirty-five 
bags of cotton, and abundance of corn. I applied stable manure, cotton 
seed and ashes, but bought no chemical manures, yet I made fine crops 
every year until the war commenced. After that I planted no more cot- 
ton, but went in for hog raising, sugar cane, BuiicoiuIk; cabbage, corn and 
peas. 

Since the close of the war I have rented out my place and removed my 
family to Richmond County, a healthy locality, where I expect to remain 
the residue of my life. Had I bought a farm near to Augusta in 1828, and 
remained at home, I doubt not I would have been far richer than I am at 
present, and would have enjoyed better health, though T would not have ac- 
quired the experience which I have obtained by roving. If a man has 
a farm in a healthy section, and other advantages of sit\iation, he is 
very unwise to sell out and move to a sickly though more fertile coun- 
try. I have known rich men doing well, in all respects, to sell their prop- 
12 - f 



1)0 

erty and remove to Texas, taul in nearly every instance their wealth soon 
came to nothing. Nine times out of ten this Iiappens to the woahhy and 
prosperons, who make changes to belter still more their condition. And 
in my opinion riches are worthless without good heallh and contentment. 
In my travels, I was riding over the country, on horseback, and stopped 
one night at the house of a gentleman on Bayou Black. My entertainer 
was a Mr. Martin. He had been wealthy, and once owned one of the fiuest 
plantations on Neuse River, North Carolina. 'I'here he had a healthy 
place and well watered, made an ab.mdaiice of everything and had a good 
market for everything he wished to sell. He possessed good society and 
every comfort that heart could wish ; but lie took a notion to move West, 
sold out for what seemed to him at the time a full price. He first moved 
to Alabama. There he soon buried several of his family. Then he movetl 
to Mississippi, where, in the course of two years, he lost fifteen of his 
black and three of his white family. lie sold out there at a sacrifice and 
removed to Texas, where he remained tlircc years and lost several more by 
death. lie sold, out liere at half price and moved to Louisiana to Bayou 
Black, a very rich sugar cane region, but he lost other members of his 
family here, and a few weeks before I visited him his sugar mill was burned. 
He left North Carolina with eighty in family and plenty of money. When 
I saw him he had but nineteen black and white in all. lie told me he 
would give lialf the world to be back upon his own place on Neuse Kiver. 
"When I saw him he was perfectly miserable, and in bad health himself, 
and advised me to come back to Georgia and remain. 

I have known other rich men to sell out and remove to 'I'exas to double 
their wealth, who have lost all their property, and were even too poor to 
return. Therefore let every one who is prosperous in his home remain and 
improve his condition there by diligence and economy, and not remove 
West. For, if the West be fertile, it is nnhealthy, and even where it is 
healthy it is far less agreeable than the favored region which we inhabit. 



CERTIFICATES. 



Macon, Ga., October 18, 1870. 
To all whom it may concern : 

I was the purcliascr of 27,000 melons in Richmond County, at Augusta, 
Ga., and the finest of the lot were those I purchased Irom Mr. E. P. 
Godley, 220; early in the month of July. They averag^cd forty -two pounds 
and several weighng sixty pounds. For sweetness, color and thinness of 
rind, they were superior to all others, and netted one dollar a piece. 

TH. W. BUFFUETTE. 



Georgia, Burke County, September 4, 1858. 
To all whom it may concern : 

I have known E. P. Godley from his infancy to the present hour. He 
has followed planting for a living all his life. It has fallen to the lot of 
few men to enjoy the advantages which he has, or to reap the vast experi- 
ence which he possesses, lie has attended to uusiness in North Carolina, 
Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, and has invariably given entire 
satisfaction. lie has lived with me the past four years, and I can say that 
he is industrious, energetic and skillful in (he manag(>mcnt of a crop and 
plantation, surpassing any man I have ever known. Consequently I most 
cheerfully and confidently recommend him to any or all who may wish a 
man to attend to a large and intricate business. 

A. J. LAWSON. 



Georgia, Chatham County, December 20, 1845. 
Mr. E. P. Godley has attended to my two plantations at Mobley's Pond, 
Screven County, Ga.; also, he managed ray business on Skidaway Island, 
two years, 1844 and 1845. He is an honest, industrious man, and a good 
manager, a good planter and a sober, reliable man. 

WIATTE W. STARK. 



State of Georgia, Burks County, October 5, 1843. 
We, the undersigned, take great pleasure in stating that we have been 
acquainted with Mr. Elypsey P. Godley from his infancy up to the present 
time, and we cordially recommend him to any and all who wish to employ 
him as an honest, industrious man, and a most excellent planter. 

A. J. LAWSON, 
A. G. FRYER, 
ALLEN BOYT, 
JOHN B. GORDON, 
McAMACK NORRILL, 
JAMES M. REYNOLDS, 
EZEKIEL WILLIAMS, 
Z. L. F. TAM BERLIN, 
C. F. FICKLIN. 



E R K A T A . 

Page 41. — Second line from bottom tor three bushels stable manure read 
three loads. 

Page 77. — Seventh line from top for J. W. James read -/. V. Jones. 



■7/i-^ 



PRACTICAL 



FARMER'S Guide 



WRITTEN BY 



E. P. 'GODLEY, 



OF BURKE COUNTY, GA. 



REVISED BY 



HON. WALTER A. CLARK, 



OF RICHMOND COUNTY. 



AUGUSTA, GA. 

JAS. L. GOW, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER. 

1871. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



